Joseph Faith Ray

Joe's father, Sol, passed away when he was five months old. His mother, Sadie, then moved the family to Sioux City, Iowa to live with her sister, Mary Whelton, and his two cousins, Joe and Jack.

When Joe was five years of age, his mother passed away from Cancer, leaving Joe and his siblings orphaned. He often told the story of how he waited by the chain link fence on his birthday for someone to come to visit him.

One year, in the distance, he saw his Aunt Mary walking towards the house. She brought him a beautiful juicy orange with the great news that she was going to take in all his siblings and reunite the family!

In Sioux City, Joe graduated from Trinity High School. After graduating, he went to business school and joined the Navy. While in the Navy, he met his "Sweet Southern Bell" Harriet Deigh Jones and they soon married.

Joe had many jobs during his lifetime. He sold life insurance, televisions, sewing machines, vacuum cleaners and milk. Joe also worked as a taxi driver, fireman, chauffeur, tomato peddler and ultimately created a truck brokering business, Ray Brothers Transportation with two of his brothers, Glenn and Robert. For the next 48 years, he worked hard to grow the business and came into the office everyday until the last month of his life.

His proudest accomplishment was being a husband to Harriet for fifty seven years, father of eight children and grandfather of nineteen.

Joe had a true gift of knowing how to put smiles on peoples' faces whether it was his sense of humor, passion for Notre Dame Football, or spontaneously breaking into song! His charitable nature and all the love that he has given will never be forgotten. Through his faithful service, he helped make the world a better place. His legacy will continue through his children and grandchildren. We love him dearly and know he is in heaven with God and the angels. May he rest in peace.

He is survived by his wife and lifetime sweetheart, Harriet to whom he has been married since 1954; sister, Bernadine Wigton; children, Theresa, her husband Carlo Prandini and their children Christine, Mark and Jenna; Michael; Mary, her husband Patrick O'Neill and their children Kevin and Katherine; Gregory, his wife, Kelly, and their children Meghan, Michael, Annie and Kaitlyn; Matthew, his children Joshua and Olivia; Patricia, her husband, Darren Cullins and their children John, Emily and Ashley; David, his wife, Loraine, and their children, Isabella, Joseph and Juliana; Sarah, her husband, Brendan Hayes, and their children Haylie and Ella.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Nancy Hinds Hospice or Right to Life of Central California.