Ray R. Valdez M.D.

Ray was a graduate of McAuthur High School, Class of 1975. Ray went on to attend the University of Houston (1975-1978) receiving a Bachelor of Science, Biology. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas (1979-1983), completing internships in pediatrics and general surgery. Ray’s shining moment was when he was selected for the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency (1985-1989).

During his years at UTMB, Ray thought it important to bring students, staff and faculty together to create a support system. The Organization of Hispanic Medical Students (OHMS) was the result. With help from classmates, a document of purpose was drafted and meetings with administrators were arranged with Ray leading the charge. After OHMS came TAMAMS, the Texas Association of Mexican American Medical Students. Ray worked with representative groups from other medical schools in the state to create an organization that might benefit others.

He was the recipient of the 1988- 1989 Traveling Residency Away Award and completed his Fellowship in Foot and Ankle Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In 2003, Ray was honored for his dedicated service to the UTMB Alumni Advisory Committee on Minority Affairs.

Ray began his professional orthopedic practice joining Southwest Bone and Joint Clinic in 1990. He was known for his skills in the operating room at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital and loved the complicated foot and ankle cases. There was not one person that Ray saw in the hallway that he did not extend a hello to or know by name.

In 1999, Ray was voted the Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital Physician of Year. He was very active on the medical staff serving as Orthopaedic Section Chief, and in 2001, served as Chief of Medical Staff during Tropical Storm Allison where he displayed outstanding leadership. In 2004, Ray was so very proud to accept, on behalf of Southwest Bone and Joint Clinic, a plaque from Alief Independent School District, for 30 years of dedication as Team Physicians, where he and his associates walked the sidelines of all of the home football games providing care to the players.

Ray was awarded the John S. Dunn, Sr. Teaching Award for Outstanding Volunteer Teaching Faculty, Memorial Hermann Southwest Family Practice Residency Program in 1997 and 2006.

Southwest Bone and Joint Clinic joined forces with Houston Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Associates which later became Houston Methodist Orthopedic Specialists of Texas located in Sugar Land, Texas. Always humble, Ray would say that he had only a small role in a patient’s care. Ray was always quick to acknowledge those in the operating room that were part of his ‘ortho team’, those that knew how to set up a room, what instruments he would need, those that could turn a room around, the on-call crew. It was all the unseen acts by his supporting team that made him a success and he was never shy of highlighting their contributions.

Ray had lifelong relationships with his patients caring for some from their teenage years into adulthood. Ray’s patients shared life stories with him, professional accomplishments, and health goals. Anyone that mentioned running always got his attention. A patient of his had struggled for many years with foot pain and she shared with Ray her dream of running a 5K. He promised to run a 5K with her after she healed from her surgery and he did just that.

Ray is survived by the love of his life, Paula Hale, their three daughters, Parker, Peyton and Pilar, all of whom had ‘Daddy-O’ wrapped around their fingers, and the family pit bull George. Other survivors include Ray’s sisters, Belinda Reyes, and husband, Ed, of Houston, Texas and sister, Debra Page, and husband Jeff and nephew Jefferson of Houston, Texas; mother-in-law, Roslyn Hale of Charenton, Louisiana, brother-in-law, Steven Hale of Franklin, Louisiana; sister-in-law, Meagan Fryoux and husband Damian of Nederland, Texas and two nephews, Braxton and Owen and godchild Aidan Fryoux. Ray is preceded in death by his parents Ralph and Lupe Valdez.

Ray was so very proud to call the staff of Houston Methodist Orthopedic Specialists of Sugar Land his family. He considered everyone an integrate part of his success. There are no words to express the gratitude felt for Carl Hicks, M.D. and Lindley Cramer.

Ray was an avid runner and a veteran of the Houston Marathon having completed 24 consecutive marathons as well as many others such as the Marine Corp and New York. He loved early morning runs with Paula followed by a day’s work in the yard. Being a season ticket holder of the Houston Rockets for over 24 years, he was so excited that his daughters shared his love of the game. Ray also enjoyed Indy Car Racing, so if the family was not sitting in turn one of Indianapolis Motor Speedway Memorial Day weekend, they were glued to the television on the day of the running. His greatest accomplishment was his family. He dedicated his heart and soul to Parker, Peyton and Pilar, and to Paula, his always and forever.

A memorial service and celebration of his life is to be conducted at six o’clock in the evening on Monday, the 9th of October, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive, in Houston. Immediately following, guests are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent grand foyer.

Prior to the service, the family will have gathered for a private interment at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.

Those honored to serve as pallbearers are Carl Hicks, M.D., Richard Ruscher, Paul Garcia, Ed Reyes, Raymond Lewis and Aidan Fryoux.

In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions may be directed to the UTMB Development Office, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX, 77555-0148, in memory of Ray R. Valdez, M.D., for the William C. Levin Award of Academic Excellence. Dr. Levin was past president of UTMB with whom Ray and several others created this scholarship in his memory. This award is given to the highest-ranking student at the end of their basic science courses.