Obituary of Ruby Ray

Ruby Adel Ellen (Hutchinson) Ray, matriarch of the Ray Family of Mossbank, Sask., died June 5, 2016, in Moose Jaw, aged 95. She was born December 13, 1920 at Archive, south of Moose Jaw, to Joseph Milton (Milt) Hutchinson, and Hilda Myrtle West. Milt was the eldest son of seventeen children born to Henry and Ellen (Scarrow) Hutchinson while Hilda was the eldest child born to Minnie Newberry and Isaac West. Henry Hutchinson and Isaac West were half-brothers through the first and second marriages of their mother Faith Anderson, to Joseph Hutchinson and Mark West. Faith’s third marriage to Arthur Dodds also produced a half-brother, Albert Dodds and a half-sister Ida Cowan, of Vantage. Through an earlier marriage Arthur Dodds also had a daughter, Belle, who married George Hicks. All of these early family connections produced a very large family network south of Moose Jaw, connections which sustained Ruby during her entire life. In 1932, Ruby and her family, which by then included Bernice, moved to the Hutchinson Homestead at Mossbank while Milt’s parents and younger siblings moved to Red Deer Hill south of Prince Albert. That summer brother Clifford was born but lived only a few months. On December 7, 1942, Ruby married Colin Ray, the son of Albert Ray and Helen Hyslop Howlett, thus creating many more strong family connections: the Roneys/ McLeans, the Irelands/Sadlemyers, the Kirkpatricks/Kindopps; the McKees, the Bobiers/Haugs, and the Sutors. Two daughters, Phyllis and Beverley were born before Colin went Overseas in 1944, and upon his return, Harold and Evelyn arrived to complete their family. Ruby was predeceased by her brother Clifford (1932), mother Hilda (1942), father Milton (1976), sister Bernice (Elmer) Burrows (1988), husband Colin (1990) and daughter Evelyn (2006). Ruby leaves to celebrate her life: Uncle Grant West born in 1919, Aunt Agnes Hutchinson (Falk) Annett; daughter Phyllis (Zado) Belliveau, sons Todd Zado (Jillian McLarty) and Tim Zado (Andrea Vostermans); daughter Beverley, husband Daryl Dueck, son Jeff Dueck, daughter Kathleen and Monte Hill; son Harold Ray and wife Betty (Shoemaker) and their three sons Ken Ray, Kelly Ray (Colinda Becker) and Kevin Ray (Misty Eastwood); and Evelyn’s son Dean Selme, daughter Denise, husband John Burke, son Evan Burke. Also surviving are twenty great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren; two nephews Laurie and Murray Burrows (Sandra Nagel Coffey); four Habermillar nieces, Shirley (Gerald Hendrickson), Corrine (Moir Haug), Debbie (Glen Jolly) and Darlene (Arthur Reed); and several Hutchinson and West cousins. A funeral service for Ruby will be held at the Mossbank United Church on July 4, 2016 at 2:00 pm. Interment will occur in Mossbank Cemetery followed by a time of fellowship at Cornerstone Church. Memorial donations in memory of Ruby may be made to the Furrows and Faith Retirement Co-operative, Box 129, Mossbank, SK S0H 3G0.