Services will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at Colonial Funeral Home, Columbia, MS, for Jimmie Lee Ray, Sr., 87, who departed from this life on March 1, 2023, at his home in the Spring Cottage community. Visitation will be held from 1:30 p.m. until service time and interment will be at Spring Cottage Cemetery, Spring Cottage, MS.
Jimmie was born on December 28, 1935, to Clara Lillian (née Robbins) and Stanford Bogan Ray of Bunker Hill, MS. Jimmie served his country for 21 years in the U.S. Air Force. After retiring from the Air Force, he served as Chief Deputy Sheriff of Marion County for 4 years, after which he worked overseas for Chevron Oil Company until his retirement. Jimmie returned to the sheriff’s department serving as an investigator until he retired.
Jimmie was a member of the St. Alban’s Masonic Lodge, Magnolia Rambler’s RV Club, Mississippi Law Enforcement Association, and Gideon’s International. He was a former member of the Lion’s Club and served on the Board of Directors of the Marion County Forestry Commission and the South Marion Volunteer Fire Department. Jimmie was a faithful member of Spring Cottage Baptist Church, serving as deacon for many years. Jimmie and his wife, Irene, were Volunteer National Park Rangers for many summers at the Smoky Mountains National Park, in Tennessee and Yosemite National Park, in California.
Jimmie enjoyed camping, gardening, working on his farm and especially spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Jimmie was preceded in death by his father, Stanford Bogan Ray; mother, Clara Lillian Ray Shibla; four brothers, Laney Ray, Hubert Ray, Harris Ray, and J.L. Ray; and a sister, Jewel Dean McRaney. He leaves behind his loving wife of 66 years, Georgia Irene Ham Ray; his son, Jim Lee Ray, Jr. (Sharon) of Sumrall, MS; two granddaughters, Michelle Ginn (Jay) of Foxworth, MS, and Angela Patterson (Jeremy) of Sumrall; a grandson, Christopher Ray (James) of San Jose, CA; five great-grandchildren, Dalton Daughtry, Parker Ginn, Lilly Claire Patterson, Rayleigh Patterson, and Maddox Patterson; two brothers, George Ray (Ann), and William Ray (Dianne), both of Columbia; and two sisters, Demples Boettcher of Galveston, TX, and Nannie Jane Hollis of Columbia.
Assisting as pallbearers will be Christopher Ray, Jay Ginn, Dalton Daughtry, Jeremy Patterson, Sherman Fletcher, and David Jager, and honorary pallbearers, Ralph Edward Ham, Sheriff Berkley Hall, former Sheriff, Richard “Rip” Stringer, and past and present Marion County Sheriff’s officers.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Gideon’s International.
