Ray was born on January 5, 1943 at Cuba Memorial Hospital in Cuba, New York. He was the son of Guy Van Der Linden and Lizabeth “Betty” Van Der Linden (Whiteman) and brother of Ronald (Carole) Van Der Linden, Sylvia (Jerry) Powell, and Gary (Kim) Van Der Linden. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Sevilla Van Der Linden (Bixby), daughters Gayle (Richard) Blackburn of Midland, TX and Jean (Andrew) Runyan of Fort Collins, CO; 7 grandchildren, and 1 great grandson.
Ray grew up in Cuba, New York and attended Cuba Central High School. He married Sevilla on April 4, 1964. Ray and Sevilla purchased his parents’ dairy farm in 1969. In June 1973, Ray and Sevilla moved to Arizona. Ray worked for Certified Producers for six months while laying the groundwork for his own dairy. Six months later he bought cows and leased a dairy in Glendale, AZ. In 1979, Ray partnered with Ron Schlosser and purchased a dairy in Laveen, AZ and named it Mesquite Dairy. Ray and Sevilla operated Mesquite Dairy for 13 years. During his time in Arizona, Ray served on the Arizona Dairy Herd Improvement Association from 1983 to 1989.
In 1992, Ray and Sevilla sold the Arizona dairy and moved to Stephenville, Texas and leased a dairy there for 6 years. In 1998 Ray and Sevilla purchased a dairy in Midland, TX. They operated the Ray Van Der Linden dairy in Midland until 2005 at which time they went to raising replacement heifers for other dairymen. In August 2010, Ray decided it was time to retire from the dairy business and sold the Midland dairy. Ray and Sevilla stayed on the property until August 2012. They then moved to Stanton, TX and stayed there until April 2018. In April 2018 Ray and Sevilla moved back to Midland.
Throughout most of his life, Ray was active on various bowling teams, enjoyed golfing, and watching his daughters play softball. Ray and Sevilla took a trip in 1981 to New Zealand as part of a dairy tour. Gayle and Jean’s softball took Ray and Sevilla to several tournaments over the years including Hawaii in 1983.
Ray was predeceased by his parents Guy and Betty and sister-in-law Carole Van Der Linden (Bixby).
A memorial will be held on March 22, 2019, 2:00-5:00 p.m. at Ellis Funeral Home; 801 Andrews Highway, Midland, TX 79701; 432-683-5555
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Texas Oncology-Midland Allison Cancer Center or the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
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