Ray Wilson was a good friend.. he was a kind gentle soul who always had a smile on his face.. I had heard that he passed but I never heard how. Rest in peace my friend..
Ray's eyes look as bugged out in that picture as they did the night we sunk the car in the lake and he was climbing out the rear window - after Frank open the door and flooded everything.
Ray was a good friend for years but out of respect I won't relay most of my memories of him. For 25+ years a group of us had season tickets for KU football. To say Ray was an avid fan is a huge understatement. Two things standout when I think of Ray and KU. First, he was the only person I knew that knew the words to KU's alma mater song. In an age before the internet I don't even know where he could find that information. Most people just hummed the turn and sang KU at the end.
Second, despite KU's horrible record during those years, KU was lucky to even score, much less actually win a game, Ray always seemed genuinely surprised and dissapointd when they lost. He was even a bigger basketball fan. If you are ever at Allen fieldhouse, Ray's brother, Gary, had a memorial brick placed in his honor, which in my opinion was the best tribute anyone could have given him.
Ray was a really solid friend. 51 years ago 9/21/68 we entered a car rally called Confucious Says. Very complicated trick questions necessary to find clues to the directions. I think we started near Independence about 3 and drove all over KCMO till late at night. Ray was the navigator and was doing most of the work. At one point he's leaning out the back of my TR3 and looking at a billboard of Len Dawson selling something, an important clue. Trouble was we were going the wrong way on a one way highway. We finally got to the party destination in South Missouri to find Paul Long and Skip Coons playing pool and drinking 5% beer. Somehow we took 2nd place and got a nice trophy (see attached). He let me keep it even though he did most of the work. Another fond memory was double dating to the Starlight to see John Davidson in Camelot or something. He with my coworker Susie from Zales Ward Parkway and me with his coworker Susan from French Market. Wish he could be here. A great guy and fellow Drinking Buddy.
Allie Ashley (Polikoff)
Ray Wilson was a good friend.. he was a kind gentle soul who always had a smile on his face.. I had heard that he passed but I never heard how.Rest in peace my friend..
Ken Wallace
My best friend since college. I often wonder how different (and better) my life world have been if he had not left us way too early.
Bill Weiler
Ray's eyes look as bugged out in that picture as they did the night we sunk the car in the lake and he was climbing out the rear window - after Frank open the door and flooded everything.
Wyatt Reeves
Ray was a good friend for years but out of respect I won't relay most of my memories of him. For 25+ years a group of us had season tickets for KU football. To say Ray was an avid fan is a huge understatement. Two things standout when I think of Ray and KU. First, he was the only person I knew that knew the words to KU's alma mater song. In an age before the internet I don't even know where he could find that information. Most people just hummed the turn and sang KU at the end.
Second, despite KU's horrible record during those years, KU was lucky to even score, much less actually win a game, Ray always seemed genuinely surprised and dissapointd when they lost. He was even a bigger basketball fan. If you are ever at Allen fieldhouse, Ray's brother, Gary, had a memorial brick placed in his honor, which in my opinion was the best tribute anyone could have given him.
Paul Reitz
Ray was a really solid friend. 51 years ago 9/21/68 we entered a car rally called Confucious Says. Very complicated trick questions necessary to find clues to the directions. I think we started near Independence about 3 and drove all over KCMO till late at night. Ray was the navigator and was doing most of the work. At one point he's leaning out the back of my TR3 and looking at a billboard of Len Dawson selling something, an important clue. Trouble was we were going the wrong way on a one way highway. We finally got to the party destination in South Missouri to find Paul Long and Skip Coons playing pool and drinking 5% beer. Somehow we took 2nd place and got a nice trophy (see attached). He let me keep it even though he did most of the work. Another fond memory was double dating to the Starlight to see John Davidson in Camelot or something. He with my coworker Susie from Zales Ward Parkway and me with his coworker Susan from French Market. Wish he could be here. A great guy and fellow Drinking Buddy.