Raymond D. “Ray” Wilson died at his home Wednesday, November 13, 2013.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, November 16, 2013, at Davis-Morris Funeral Home Chapel. Visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. Friday at the funeral home and Saturday at the Wilson’s home following the services.
He was born in Thorndale, Texas, in 1927, to Mattie and David A. Wilson. His childhood was spent in Galveston. He was married to Betty Jo Petty in 1949. They were married for 48 years before her death in 1987. They had a son, James D. Wilson and daughter, Connie Wilson Rausch.
At age 17 he joined the Maritime Service so he could be a part of the action of World War II. He served in the Pacific until the end of the war. Then when he was old enough he joined the Air Force, where he assembled gliders and played baseball on the Air Force’s team.
Ray worked for a short time for the Santa Fe Railroad and for less than a year as a Brownwood policeman before going to work for Monsanto Chemical Company in January 1951. He worked for Monsanto for 32 years where he was a certified Professional Safety Engineer with responsibilities for industrial security, industrial fire protection/prevention, personal safety, and industrial hygiene. He was a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers and the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the American Association of Fire Chiefs. Ray was a member of plant management in various levels of responsibility. He helped to develop and put into action the Houston Mutual Aid Program, which was designed to coordinate emergency assistance to each of the refineries and chemical plants on the Houston ship channel.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the industrial Fire School at Texas A&M and taught industrial fire fighting there two weeks each year for nine years. Ray served on the National Safety Congress for several years as a speaker and program chair.
For 13 years he worked with youth in different cities by managing Babe Ruth and Little League baseball. Ray was a Junior Achievement Advisor.
He is survived by his wife of 13 years, Rosalyn; his son, James and wife Vickie; daughter, Connie and husband Dick Rausch; his brother, Everett Wilson and wife Mona; brother-in-law, Ben Cox; step-sons, Chuck Kingsbery and Barnes Kingsbery and wife Lynette; step-daughter, Karen McManus; 14 grandchildren; and 25 great-grandchildren.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sisters, Evelyn Cox, Dorothy and her husband Charles Covington.
In lieu of flowers a gift could be made to the First United Methodist Church, 2500 11th St., Brownwood, TX, 73801, or the Salvation Army, P.O. Box 911, Brownwood, TX, 76804.
