Marl Ellis Ray

Marl Ellis Ray, 95, died on March 4, 2010, in Raleigh. He was born in the Bayleaf area north of Raleigh to Otho and Callie Nipper Ray on February 4, 1915. He attended Wake Forest College but graduated from North Carolina State College in 1939 with a B. S. degree in Civil Engineering and in 1946 with a M.S. degree in Structural Engineering. In between earning those degrees, he worked as a Draftsman in the Bridge Department of the North Carolina Highway Division, as an Engineer in the Tennessee Valley Authority at Gilbertsville, Kentucky, and as an Instructor in the Civil Engineering Department at North Carolina State. From 1945 to 1960 he was employed as a Structural Engineer at William Henley Deitrick, Inc., an Architectural and Engineering firm in Raleigh. From 1960 to 1962 he worked in a similar capacity at Crampton and Associates. And then from 1962 to 1985 he was employed as a Civil and Structural Engineer at L.E. Wooten and Company, Consulting Engineers of Raleigh. He left the firm when he retired after 23 years of service.

He was a Charter Member of the Professional Engineers of North Carolina, Life Member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, and Fellow-Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineering. He served as Secretary-Treasurer, Vice-President, and President of the North Carolina Section, Eastern Branch, ASCE. The projects he was proudest of having worked on included the Carter-Finley Stadium at North Carolina State University, Dorton Arena at the Fairgrounds in Raleigh, and Groves Stadium at Wake Forest University.

He married the former Inez Poe of Apex, North Carolina, and is survived by their two children, Philip Ray of Wallingford, Pennsylvania, and Karen Ray of Raleigh, and one granddaughter Emily Ray of Poughkeepsie, New York. He was predeceased by his wife and by his two brothers, Carlyle and Carey Duncan Ray. He is also survived by two sisters, Rachel Goldston of Raleigh and Callie Macon Sauls of Garner, and one brother, Jerry Ray of Raleigh.

In retirement he was devoted to the wildlife of the backyard of his Meredith Woods home. He wrote in 1993, “I have been feeding wild birds and squirrels for many years. Now chipmunks have joined the birds and squirrels. All my feeders are suspended from a line between two trees, except one which is mounted on a pole for squirrels and chipmunks to climb for food.”

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday March 9 at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery.

Visitation will be Monday March 8 at Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, St. Mary’s Street from 4 to 7 p.m.

Contributions in lieu of flowers can be made to the Triangle Land Conservancy, 1101 Haynes Street, Suite 205, Raleigh, North Carolina 27604.

Condolences may be sent through www.brownwynneraleigh.com.