The entire staff at Bright-Holland Funeral Home wish to extend sincerest sympathies to Mr. Crossland's family.

I was surprised and saddened to learn that Ray passed away and I was even more surprised to learn that Wilma had preceded him in death by a month or two.  How tragic to lose both of your loved ones in such a short time.  I don't know how to give you words of comfort at such a time as this, but I want you to know that I cared about Ray and Wilma and I care about the rest of the family.

I had expected to visit Ray and Wilma near the end of July this year.  I haven't been back to Texas for several years, but I usually try to stop by for a visit when I am in the area.  I was very pleased and flattered that you included the photo of Ray, Jimmye Bishop Hancock, and me in your collection of photos.

I would like to tell you a bit about my relationship with Ray.  I can't remember when he started to Roxton School, but that's when I met him.  I guess Raymond and I didn't quite fit in with many of the other students at our little school.  Neither of us was great at any of the sports that were played, although Raymond was far better than I was.  I suppose that caused us to gravitate toward one another.  

There was an old bus parked out behind the high school building.  It just sat there and hadn't been driven for a long time.  It was open so that Raymond and I could go inside and sit in it.  He always sat in the driver's seat and shifted through all the gears.  He explained to me how to double-clutch and such things.  I wasn't particularly interested and wondered why he enjoyed so much pretending to drive.  I think he learned how to drive a bus without ever having been in the driver's seat with the engine running.

Raymond and I both went on a trip to Beaver's Bend, near Broken Bow, Oklahoma once or twice.  These trips were made in the summer and I don't know how either of us managed to get permission to go when we were needed to work on the farm.  Coach Bishop and Mr. Tucker, the Agriculture teacher, led he trips.  I guess most of the high school boys were on the trips.  Most of the boys went down to the water to swim.  I didn't know how to swim and Raymond probably didn't either.  After hiking around in the woods and exploring a while, we came back to the camp to listen to Coach Bishop and Mr. Tucker talking.  As they began to prepare lunch, Raymond and I volunteered to peel potatoes and do whatever else they asked of us.  After lunch, Coach Bishop said â€œAll you boys have to wash the dishes.  Scour out the skillets with sand, soap, and water.  All except Raymond and Joe.  They helped fix lunch.â€  That was our routine for the noon and evening meals for the rest of the trip.

After high school, Ray and I went our separate ways.  After 20 or 30 years I went by to visit Miss Pauline Childers, our high school English teacher.  After that, I paid a visit to her almost every time I came back to Texas.  At some point I asked her if she knew anything about Raymond.  She knew exactly where he lived and told me how to get there.  I stopped by his shop and he recognized me instantly and called me by name.  In some way he even remembered that he was just a few weeks older than I!  How he knew that I can't imagine.  Both our birthdays are in June, when we were out of school so we weren't together when we celebrated our birthdays.

That's when I met Wilma.  She was already wheelchair-bound at that time.  I thought she was amazingly cheerful for someone who was so confined.  She wrote us many nice cards over the years.  I had the opportunity to see photos of some beautiful women in the house.  I learned that these were Ray's sisters.  

I always enjoyed seeing all the interesting work Ray, Keith, and Tom did in his shop.  It was very impressive.  In later years I happened to see Mr. Tucker.  He said to me, â€œYou know who's the best mechanic I know?  It's Raymond Crossland.â€  I see that his reputation was well known.  

In one of my later trips to visit Ray, he told me about driving the school bus in his senior year in high school.  (All that time practicing shifting gears in that old dilapidated bus behind the high school building paid off, I guess.)  Coach Bishop was the regular bus driver on the route that Ray used to get to and from school.  Ray was the last person to be dropped off on the way home.  He said Coach Bishop suffered from stomach ulcers and was often in pain at the end of the day.  After he let off the last student except for Ray, he had Ray drive the bus to Ray's drop-off point while he rested to ease the pain.  Ray said Coach even had him drive the whole route a time or two.  Coach Bishop found him to be very trustworthy.

Thank you for posting all the photos in the photo gallery.  Ray and Wilma's wedding photo shows Ray as I remember him back in school.  I enjoyed seeing his photos from recent years in his shop because that's the way I remember him now.  I really liked the photos of the years in between, seeing him mature into the man you knew and loved.  

Joe Owens   josnowens@aol.com

Dear Keith, Thomas and family,

 I just read about your father. He loved his family. I remember going to your dad's for my mother and sister Kathy would go there.I am not saying this is easy. Think of something funny he said to you or did. I know when I read the Paris newspaper where he had been electricity came from lightening through that lamp and got him twice. I was like surprised about it. Your parents had a love between each other that lasted forever.Both of you boys were their sunshine. I remember your parents coming to East Lamar to see you in a sing program or a night of fun. They were there with smiles and full of laughter. Know God needed an Angel and he choose your father. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you.

OBITUARY

Raymond Crossland

21 June, 1938 – 23 June, 2014

Bright-Holland Funeral Home

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