Ray Earl Chavis Obituary
LEXINGTON — Mr. Ray E. Chavis, 69, changed his address to Heaven on Thursday, January 14, 2010, after suffering many complications following a stroke that occurred on November 9, 2009.
Ray was born in the old Columbia Hospital in Columbia, SC on December 19, 1940. He was a member of Congaree Baptist Church in West Columbia, SC; a 1959 graduate of Brookland-Cayce High School; attained the rank of Staff Sargeant in the Air National Guard at McEntire AFB, Eastover, SC, as a Jet Aircraft Mechanic; and he was employed by the following sign companies: Carter-Miot Eng., Plasti-Line, Inc., and ImagePoint, Inc. in Columbia, SC for 48 dedicated years of service where he retired from in September of 2008 upon the closure of the company with much sadness for he dearly loved his job and his co-workers.
Mr. Chavis had many friends, and it has been stated that if you could not get along with Ray Chavis, then you could not get along with anyone. He always had a great sense of humor. He was a caring, giving, kind, loving, thoughtful person that would go out of his way to help people. He was such a good husband, son-in-law, father, brother-in-law, uncle, nephew, grandfather, and friend. Ray was blessed with several father's; God, George Chavis, Mr. Carter, Mr. Miot, and Woodrow Watson. Mr. Chavis was a very mechanical-minded man with great accuracy in everything he attempted to do, but he did not like to get in a hurry nor be pushed. He had the ability to do seconds of measurement in his head without a calculator when working with the blue prints for the signs he helped build or anything else he might make. He loved Elvis Presley's music and was quite a historian; he loved to question people about various historic events. He spent numerous vacations traveling with his wife through the many beautiful mountains in our great United States and had visited all but three states. His last interest was the love of raking pine straw and gained the nickname of "Raking Ray."
Mr. Chavis is survived by his wife of over 43 years, Eloise (Watson) Chavis; his daughter, Angela Renee (Chavis) Hicks; his son-in-law, Richard Edwin Hicks; and his special grandson, Kevin Alexander Hicks. He is also survived by his mother-in-law, Polly R. Watson of West Columbia, SC; and a half-brother, Bobby L. Chavis of Columbia, SC; his uncle; Nolan L. (Artie) Mauldin of Seneca, SC; his aunt; Frances Mauldin of Westminster, SC; and several sister-in-laws, brother-in-laws, nephews, nieces, cousins, and other relatives. He was the son of the late George W. Chavis and the late Janie Pauline (Mauldin) Chavis of West Columbia, SC (South Congaree).
Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, January 18, 2010, at Woodridge Memorial Park & Funeral Home at 138 Corley Mill Road in Lexington, SC in the White House located in the park.
The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 19, 2010, at Congaree Baptist Church at 101 Pine Ridge Drive in West Columbia, SC with Rev. Dewey Cockrell and Rev. Steven McLain officiating. Ray was married in Congaree Baptist Church and also helped build the current steeple on the church.
Honorary Pallbearers will be Ray's dear friends and employees of Carter-Miot Eng; Plasti-Line, Inc., and ImagePoint, Inc. Active Pallbearers will be Richard Cairns, Marvin Watson, Eric Davis, Brian Watson, Neil Davis, and Richard Hicks.
Committal entombment into the mausoleum will follow at 2 p.m. in Woodridge Memorial Park & Funeral Home at 138 Corley Mill Road in Lexington, SC in the yellow and white Chapel located near the mausoleums.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Congaree Baptist Church Bldg. Fund at 101 Pine Ridge Drive in West Columbia, SC 29172, South Carolina Autism Society at 806 12th Street in West Columbia, SC 29169, and/or to the charity of one's choice.
We wish to thank Dr. Brett C. Gunter and his associates for allowing us to keep Ray a little longer; the staff that was so good to Ray at Lexington Medical Center in ICU, Step Down, Neuro; and the ones that took good care of Room 623 on the sixth floor. We owe many thanks to Dr. O'Malley in the ER. We would also like to thank the Physical Therapy Group at Agape Transitional Unit on Leaphart Road, the nurses and the CNA's that did take good care of Ray. Many thanks to Dr. William Donovant, Dr. Boyd, Dr. William Skelton, Dr. Frampton Henderson, and Mrs. Joye Watson for helping us to understand what was going on with Ray and what was best for him.
Ascension Hospice House in Irmo, SC: We simply cannot thank you enough for all that you did to help Ray and us with letting him go with peace, dignity, pride, and honor to his heavenly home.
Online condolences may be sent to http://www.mem.com.
Published in The State on January 17, 2010
