Golfer

Ray moved to Bend in 1998 to start a new orginization called CUEnet and to incorporate golf into his lifestyle on a consistant basis. Ray designed his own home to be built in Bend’s Mountain High Neighborhood.

David Lyon was his Golf Partner for many years – He shares below

22 years as a Bend Golf Club Member.  Life-long golfer.

Hi, I am David Lyon.  Ray and I met in 1999 through Trinity Lutheran Church shortly after Ray and Darlene moved up from Irvine.  While we knew each other and saw each other at church, he and I led somewhat parallel lives until 2013/2014 when my Dad passed away and Ray lost Dar.  Through our church and the Golf club he became my adopted Dad; he also adopted my family.  We were so pleased when Jean also became part of our adopted family and supported Ray in his passion for golf.  Ray and I spent the last seven years of his life golfing on average of four or five times a week; mostly at the Bend Golf Club.

Ray was a dear friend, father and mentor.  I look forward to hearing your memories of Ray (especially on the course).  

First memories.  Ray used to tell me about his childhood.  Besides the approximately 1100 chickens whose eggs his mom collected, that he had to wash up after school and that his dad loaded into the car to sell to local grocery stores after he was done with his real estate job—there was golf.  Sometime in his youth Ray would take the one club he had somehow acquired and ride his bike to a local golf course.  The top-dressed greens would need to be raked each time he putted on them, but it never deterred him from the next outing.

In between.  Although Ray never lost a love for the game during his ‘formative’ years of being a student, teacher, pastor and university president, he played less frequently.  Even as a University President, Ray was only able to play every other month or so.  The weight of his position, raising a family, and other important life roles kept him from indulging his love of golf as often as he might have liked to.

Retirement and was golf important?  If you asked Ray what was important for eternal salvation Ray would have never told you that golf was anywhere on the list.  If you asked him whether he loved golf (or even if he thought that it was a blessing our Savior had granted us), the answer was an unequivocal ‘yes.’  I once asked him if he thought he wanted to golf as much as possible when he ‘retired.’  He answered, ‘No, when we moved to Bend I wanted to learn to fly-fish and improve my golf game.’  After a few years I realized that I enjoyed fly-fishing, but it interfered with golf.’

Did golf ever change Ray’s demeanor compared to his everyday persona?  Not that I ever saw.  Ray loved the game.  His approach to golf mirrored his everyday life.  There was delight (‘Wow, that was a beautiful shot!’ and ‘This is another blessed day for a walk.’), despair (‘I hit another one into the damage.’) and acceptance (‘That’s probably enough fun for this hole.’)  Ray rarely wavered from his center line.

Did Ray ever lose focus?  Have you ever seen Ray’s golf club collection?  I always loved when Ray would take his five-plus driver collection out to the driving range and hit a couple hundred balls.  He would walk away and tell me that this ‘club of choice’ had won and would be in his bag for the next round.  Inevitably I would hand him my one driver the next time we played and he would hit a long drive straight down the middle.  I would always tell him he should get the club he just hit.  He eventually did.  It ended up in the ‘driver-off’ shortly thereafter.  He may have lost focus on that small issue.

What did we talk about on the golf course?  Ray and I rarely talked about golf.  Ray and I talked about my job, his jobs, our travels, CUEnet, critiqued sermons at church (even his), and life’s lessons.  When I needed guidance in faith, Ray was always steady, never condemning or judging, always supportive.  That support was always extended to my family.  The most humorous times on the course were when we had our on-going parallel conversations about education & Luther (his specialities) and chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences (mine); travel was a bit of a coin toss.  There was never a dull or quiet time on the tee box unless play was particularly slow.  

Was there a time that Ray seemed particularly joyous?  Ray and I had the good fortune to play Del Monte and Pebble Beach in the spring of 2019.  We planned to play the rest of the pennisula some day soon.  The day we played Pebble was particularly beautiful and we both played well.  Ray, although always seemingly at peace, was especially happy on the course that day.

Did Ray ever lose intereat in golf?  No.  As he matured Ray never lost interest in golf and, in fact, it may have increased.  At age 79 he bought a scooter, started rehabilitating a motorcycle, but in and amongst those new hobbies he started re-gripping his golf clubs.  Go figure.  I think it was one more way he could be connected to golf without being on the course.

A bit of philosophy.  While Ray and I might have talked at odds on occassion, I think the following paraphrased quote from Jack Nicklaus may help explain how Ray’s and my relationship flourished on the golf course.  “There was a game here before you and there will be a game here after you.  Treat the game with respect and give back to the game you love so much.”  I think Ray lived his whole life in this way.

I will miss Ray.