Ray T Gonzalez

The family will receive friends from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 3, 2023, at Hampton Vaughan Crestview Funeral Home in Wichita Falls. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday in the chapel at Hampton Vaughan Crestview Funeral Home with Pastor Simon Flores of First Mexican Baptist Church officiating. Interment will follow in Crestview Cemetery under the direction of Hampton Vaughan Crestview Funeral Home.

Mr. Gonzalez was born May 29, 1926, in Devol, Oklahoma, the son of the late Jose Gonzalez and Maria Trujillo Gonzalez. He attended Benito Juarez School, the Mexican school in Wichita Falls. Like other families at the time, Ray left school and worked in the fields picking cotton and vegetables from Texas to Nebraska. He married Corine Armendarez in 1944, a union that lasted 47 years until her death. Later that same year, he was drafted into the Army, where Ray served as a heavy machine gunner in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. Ray often told his family of the horrendously cold weather conditions he and the soldiers endured in the war.

When he returned to Wichita Falls, he took advantage of the GI Bill and earned several vocational education certificates in auto mechanics. His education inspired him to establish the family business, Ray’s Foreign Car Service. There, he would later work side-by-side with his son, Ray Jr. “Big” Ray and Jr. served Volkswagen customers across Texas and the United States for more than 59 years.

Ray’s love for his family and country was surpassed only by his love for his savior, Jesus Christ. He was saved in 1956. Ray and Corine were involved in all aspects of serving Christ at First Mexican Baptist Church. Later, after he was ordained and with the help of three other couples, they established Ebenezer Baptist Church on the north side of Wichita Falls. Ray and Corine worked tirelessly, ministering and mentoring Hispanic families in Wichita Falls and the surrounding area.

Ray Sr. took the role of family patriarch very seriously. He shared his testimony with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He prayed for them daily and always included his favorite verse, Matthew 6:33, on every birthday and Christmas card he gave them. He also emphasized the importance of family, education, and hard work. Ray Sr. extended his love for family to his nieces and nephews after the death of his brother, Oscar. He considered Oscar’s children like his own - Lydia, Teresa, Nancy, Oscar, Roddy, Olga, and Brenda Gonzales.

Ray was preceded in death by his wife, Corine; his daughter, Sylvia Gonzalez Grosskreauz; his son, Ray Jr.; his sister, Julia Garmony; and his brother, Oscar Gonzales.

Surviving Ray is his granddaughter, Renae Murphy and husband Steve; grandson Ray Albert III and wife Debbie; daughter-in-law Bea Gonzalez; longtime companion Maria Leyja and her son Augustin; four great-grandchildren: Austin Murphy, Sierra Gonzalez, Zack Murphy, and Nick Gonzalez and many nieces and nephews that loved him dearly.

Special thanks to Elisa Chapa of Visiting Angels and Amber “Little Ember,” Melinda, and Chaplain Doug of Hospice Plus for their exceptional care of Ray.