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Carolyn Ray


Carolyn Ray
Oct. 23, 1935 – June 29, 2020
Carolyn Breland Ray died Monday, June 29, 2020. She was 84.
A native of Hattiesburg, MS and born October 23, 1935, she was raised in Tylertown, which she called home. She was the daughter of the late Roland and Birdie Starling Breland.
She attended LSU and received her Master’s in Education from Mississippi College. Thereafter, she attended Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. While there, a highlight was meeting and participating in many conversations with Billy Graham. She accepted the position as Baptist Student Union Director at Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg, VA. While in Virginia, she met her future husband, Wilson Ray, and began a teacher career in home economics in the Fairfax County Public School System, where she taught for 25 years until her retirement. During her career, she was affiliated and served in many leadership capacities with various organizations. She was a charter member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society which promotes women educators, and a member of the Business Professional Women (BPW). She was a member of Phi Mu Sorority where she remained an active alumnus.
Following her retirement, she and her husband moved back home to Mississippi where she took up residence in Madison. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Jackson where she loved to volunteer in the children’s ministry and was a member of the Reflections Choir, of which she held very close and dear to her. She loved to travel and spend time with her family, especially her three grandsons.
In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Wilson Ray, her sister, Anita Kilcrease, and niece, Christy Ray.
She is survived by her son, Roland B. Ray (Michelle), of Madison, MS; grandsons: Brandon Ray, Tyler Ray, and Alex Ray; sister, Kathy Williams, of Magnolia, MS; nieces: Jackie Lambert, Susan McNeil, Kacey Ellzey, and Julie Ray Wright; and nephews, Fred Kilcrease, Bryan Kilcrease, Tony Ray, Randy Ray, Denny Ray and Kevin Ray.
Visitation will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday, July 3, 2020 at Sebrell Funeral Home. Graveside services to follow at 3:00 p.m. in Tylertown Cemetery, Tylertown, MS.
Sebrell Funeral Home of Ridgeland was in charge of the arrangements.
(Space paid for.)

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