Ray Allen Powers July 22, 1938 - June 16, 2016

Ray Allen Powers died on June 16 at Anna's Home in Sisters after a six-year struggle with Parkinson's and Lewy Body Disease.

Ray was born in Phoenix, Arizona, to Josephine and Ralph Powers. The family moved to Medford, Oregon, when he was 11 years old. He attended Griffin Creek Grade School.

Ray graduated from Eagle Point High School in 1958, after having served in the Naval Reserve since 1956. His active duty began in 1958. He was discharged from the Navy in 1960.

Ray began working construction in Medford after his discharge. He also painted billboards and commercial signs for Dick Walsh, who later developed an art school in Ashland. He began selling real estate in Medford, where he also began doing remodels of homes to sell. He also worked for Blake, Moffitt and Towne Paper Company as a sales representative until 1980.

"He was a heck of a salesman," said his wife, Katie. "A born seller."

In 1974, Ray moved to Corvallis. There, he met Katie Wilson, whom he married in 1976. They remained married for the rest of his life. In the six years of his dementia, Ray always remembered: Pointing to his wedding ring to tell anyone near, "October 17, 1976," the day he married his true love.

The couple bought Duedall-Pots office supply in Albany in 1980. It became a commercial and retail business that they sold in 1994, when they purchased land in Central Oregon. They moved to the Sisters home he built "from the ground up" in 1995.

The Powers began Affordable Window Coverings in 1999, which they continued until Ray was unable to do the construction because of the Lewy Body dementia. He always worked in some manner. Work was his hobby.

Ray did a tremendous amount of volunteer work in Kiwanis and Sisters. He and Katie fostered infant animals until they were ready for adoption and also were regular volunteers at the Food Bank. In his shop, Ray and other Kiwanians assembled the Kiwanis memorial benches that are seen all over Sisters.

He is probably mostly remembered driving his 1932 five-window Ford coupe wearing his "Mr. Briggs" baseball cap. He and his Ford were featured in an article in a hot-rod magazine.

He is survived by his wife, Katie; daughter, Julie (from a previous marriage); granddaughter, Kellee and sister, Bertie Hass.

A celebration of life will be held late in the summer. The family requests contributions to Partners in Care, 2075 N.E. Wyatt Ct., Bend, OR, 97702 or OHSU Lewy Body Research, where Ray and Katie agreed to donate his brain for study. Katie wishes to thank Absolute Serenity and Ashley for their care of Ray in Anna's Home.