Ray Lee Earl

Ray Lee Earl was born October 16, 1959 in Dallas, Oregon to Mary Lillian and Robert Franklin Earl. He was the middle child, but the only boy. Mischief was his middle name, always having a hand in some prank or another.

He joined the US Army at the age of 17 as a Lance Missle Crewman and would do great things while on active duty. Training & qualifying the Army's first battery of the new MLRS, briefing high rank officials to include the Joint Chief of Staff and deactivating Christiansen Barracks in Bindlach, Germany; being one of the last Americans before the gates closed forever. He visited all corners of the world: Italy, Germany, Panama, and Korea making sure to bring sourvenirs for his family from each country visited. He deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm and upon his return became the 1SG of HWB 1/2 ACR in Bindlach, Germany. He was a soldier's soldier, ensuring his soldiers were always squared away. Before an inspection he would pay for haircuts and alteration fees so their patches were sewn on straight. He was a member of the honorable order of St Barabara, SGT Morales Club and a life member of the VFW. He served his country 26 years and retired in 1993.

He met and married Karin Brigitte "Schatz" Reuss in 1972 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Immediately following their marriage, Ray brought his bride to the U.S. and gave his best effort to Americanize her....teaching her all his favorite curse words. A daughter, Stefanie was born in 1975 and a son, Clayton followed in 1978. He always stressed the importance of hard work, perseverance, pride, humility, honor, education and responsibility to his children. He also taught them important life lessons...the dying cockroach, 52 card pick up and if we didn't eat our dinner, we'd see it the next morning for breakfast (cold).

Ray loved ice cream and always kept some in the freezer. However, after finding the carton empty several times, he chose a flavor not even he liked. Lemon Coconut. That way there would always be a bowl for him.

He perfected the part of Mr. Mom when "Schatz" spent three weeks in Germany visiting her family. He kept the house squared away through child labor and kept the kids alive by feeding them Ramen noodles and canned Chili. He enjoyed running marathons when he could; he didn't finish first, second, or third. But was typically bringing up the rear as he always finished what he started.

Following his retirement, he worked with the mentally ill at Jim Taliaferro Mental Health Hospital in Lawton, Oklahoma for five years. He made an impact on his clients, teaching them to fish and playing the part of Santa Claus for their yearly Christmas party. He then took up driving for a while. First long haul trucks with his bestfriend, then the Basic Trainees at Fort Sill. Eventually he became the bus driver for Headstart and would transport the children back and forth to school.

He loved hiking the Cascade Mountains and walking the beaches of the Oregon coastline. After forty plus years, he and "Schatz" took the honeymoon to Oregon they never had and spent three weeks taking them where the wind blew. There are over 3000 pictures prove it. He saved the world on a daily basis playing World of Tanks with the screen name "Ativan59."

He was humble, a man of few words but extraordinary accomplishments. He was the first member of his family to earn a college degree. His dry humor kept you guessing at every turn. convincing people he had a snake bite which was actually a surgical scar from a broken bone.

January 2016 Ray underwent heart surgery and suffered a massive stroke. He was told he'd never walk again, but he did. The stroke also robbed Ray of his ability to verbally communicate. But he made up for it with his telling dirty looks and perfecting his favorite phrase, "this is bullshit."

February 2016, Ray was diagnosed with throat cancer and was unable to take food by mouth. But this didn't stop him from trying to convince everyone around him he was allowed to have water, calling bullshit when they refused. After five weeks of radiation, he began speech therapy. His goal was to eat vanilla ice cream from Sonic. And he did so with gusto.

Ray was a determined man, who met each obstacle with pride and perseverance. He taught his children the fine art of sarcasm, made bug pies with the grandkids (although he could never remember their names and called them all "George"). He gifted the grandkids with the loudest, most obnoxious toys possible, fed them full of sugar and then sent them home. And loved his wife every day of their 47 years together. He refused to close his eyes until he knew "Schatz" would be taken care of.

He is survived by his wife Karin Earl (Killeen, TX), daughter and son-in-law Stefanie & Jay Sproul (Killeen, TX), his son Clayton Earl (Killeen, TX) and his grandchildren Dillon Stadick (Killeen, TX), Jordan Earl (Copperas Cove, TX), Rebecca Earl (Copperas Cove, TX), Jenifer Earl (Copperas Cove, TX), Ethan Boyd (Waco, Texas) and Mason Sproul (Killeen, TX).