Thomas Broadfield Ray

Thomas B. Ray (1925-2013)
Thomas Broadfield Ray peacefully joined the love of his life, his wife Jean Bodin, in Heaven on August 22, 2013, after a brief illness. The oldest of three children of Katherine B. and Oliver Ray, young Thomas developed a keen interest in airplanes after seeing Charles Lindbergh's first solo flight in his birth town of Americus, Georgia. His family later moved to Atlanta in the Virginia-Highland area. He joined ROTC, attended Bass High School and studied at Georgia Tech and the University of Mississippi.
Tom and Jean moved their family many times through the years, being stationed at many Naval Bases in the eastern United States from Key West to Quonset Point, RI. Tom earned his Navy pilot's wings in 1950 and served until 1969, when he retired from service and moved his family back to Atlanta. Tom was one of 13 Navy pilots to be triple-rated to fly lighter than air, heavier than air and rotary wing aircraft for the Navy. Highlighting his career was establishing the first Ham radio aboard a US Navy combat ship, the USS Randolph, in 1962, and his final duty as Combat Information Center Officer and Navigator on the USS Essex for the recovery of Apollo 7.
After retiring and moving back to Atlanta, he began a second career as a successful realtor and became an active member of the First Baptist Church of Sandy Springs and later Dunwoody Baptist Church, playing trombone in the church orchestra. Tom participated in many mission trips, assisting in church building programs in the US and overseas. He had many hobbies and enjoyed refurbishing antique clocks, building furniture, electronics and sailboats and enjoyed boating on Lake Lanier with his friends and family. In his later years, he was a well-loved teacher of civics and English classes for US naturalization students. As an avid Civil War buff and author, he wrote two books: "The Search for Robert", about the life of Robert McBride Boring, a distant family member who died at Gettysburg, and "The History of The Fourth Georgia Regiment."
Tom is survived by his daughters Cris Ray Connelly, Lisa Ray O'Shea and Patti Ray Stanley; his grandchildren Keegan, Katie, Mary and Thomas O'Shea and their father Ted O'Shea of Lawrenceville, Georgia; Duncan and Callie Connelly, and their father C. Duncan Connelly of Atlanta, Georgia; son-in-law Chris Stanley of Nashville, Tennessee; and his nieces and nephews Warren Jones, Julie Jones Cordero, Marlene Ray and Bruce Ray.
A Memorial will be held at Park Springs Community, 500 Springhouse Circle, Stone Mountain, GA 30087 on September 29, 2013. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Dunwoody Baptist Church, 1445 Mt. Vernon Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338, www.dbc.org https://webmail.cbeyondonline.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=j7RNLJbbsUeusn_pv75dQCQ1WtzvddAIntSWSLiY0nd0uL2Js3iH1iwAYLWL-xt9vmomVzqdDRU.andURL=http3a2f2fdbc.org for its orchestra and music programs; and Atlanta Christian Cursillo, Camp of Colors, 3186 Dawsonville Hwy., Dahlonega, GA 30533, www.atlantachristiancursillo.com https://webmail.cbeyondonline.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=j7RNLJbbsUeusn_pv75dQCQ1WtzvddAIntSWSLiY0nd0uL2Js3iH1iwAYLWL-xt9vmomVzqdDRU.andURL=http3a2f2fwww.atlantachristiancursillo.com. A. S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory.



Funeral Home:
A.S. Turner
2773 N. Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033