My Husband Ray as Son, Son-in-Law, and Dad
One of the first things I learned about Ray was that he admired, loved, and respected his father. The more I read what the Bible says about honoring parents, the more I respect that trait Ray had even as a young man. Youth is a time when many think they know more than their fathers. That wasn’t Ray. Wesley Notgrass was respectable. Everyone who knew Wes knew that, but Ray knew it and believed it better than anybody.
When Ray realized that his dad was getting to an age and stage in life when he needed help, he invited him to come and live with us. Ray took care of him and led us in helping to care for him for seven years. I watched then with admiration, and I am awed by it still.
Wes and Ray Notgrass
Ray was wonderful to my parents. He would be the first to tell you that loving his in-laws didn’t come as easily for him as loving his own parents. His childhood and mine and his parents and mine were very different. This godly man did learn, though, and what a blessing he became to them and them to him. Many years later, when Mother needed to move in with us, Ray was very kind and supportive. He loved her and welcomed her without reserve. I never heard a murmur or complaint. And oh, how he served her.
Ray is a wonderful father. One of our family’s favorite memories is of the hours and hours Ray spent reading aloud to us all. He also crawled around on the floor, threw balls, played ping pong, went to ballgames, and did a great job at many other daddy things. Our children have a treasure.
Ray is an excellent student of God’s Word. I am thankful that when our children listened to sermons each Sunday when they were growing up, they heard a true student of the Word teaching truth that he had studied well and truth he believed. Here we are in front of the church doors of the first place our children regularly heard their daddy preach in Oxford, Mississippi.
Ray made his father glad. He makes his wife and children glad, too.
A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad.
Proverbs 29:3