Ray Lynn Yarbrough

Ray was born May 28, 1946, the only child of Raymond and Maxine Yarbrough. He grew up in the small northeast Texas town of Grand Saline playing football, participating in rodeo and distinguishing himself as an Eagle Scout. Ray went on to compete with the Tyler Junior College and A&M rodeo teams and graduated from Texas A&M University in 1969.

Ray worked for Tyler Pipe and Lone Star Steel before starting his own company: Certified Pipe Service in Lone Star Texas, and later helped lead the family business in Houston. Ray volunteered his time coaching youth sports, fabricating Little League facilities and assisting his church family as needed. An active Baptist congregant throughout his adult life, Ray served as a deacon at First Baptist Daingerfield and was a devoted member of First Baptist Porter at his death.

In 2021 the Governor of Texas honored Ray as an Admiral in the Texas Navy for his assistance with Battleship Texas restoration.

Ray is survived by his wife Beverly, daughter Wendy and her husband Ken, son Kyle and his wife Marlee, son Blake and his wife KeLe and by eight grandchildren: Yuri, Roman, Kate, Erin, Braden, Abby, Libby and Brooke. He also leaves a large circle of friends, extended family and work colleagues whom he cared for like family.

A Celebration of Life Service for Ray will be held Thursday, September 29, 2022 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Porter First Baptist Church, 24570 FM 1314, Porter, TX 77365, followed by a visitation from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Burial at Woodside Cemetery in Grand Saline will be held for immediate family.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to HTX4Ukraine (https://www.htx4ukraine.org), Gennadiy Mokhnenko Ministries (https://mokhnenkoministries.org) or another charity supporting brave Ukrainians in their fight against Russia’s depraved aggression.