Rachel Drienne Ray

Rachel Drienne Ray, 41, went to our Heavenly Father on Sept. 11, 2017, at Harbor View Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. A celebration of life is at 3 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at Lazy Mountain Bible Church in Palmer, with Pastor Robert Lee officiating.

Rachel was born July 5, 1976, in Palmer, Alaska. She graduated from Colony High school, attended Alaska Bible College and Mat-Su Community College where she studied Early Childhood Education, Medical Billing, and courses in computers.

Rachel was employed by Ray’s Childcare and Learning Center from 1992-2007 and 2011-2017 and Walmart from 2008-2009.

Rachel’s hobbies were knitting hats for everyone, reading, collecting Disney and old movies, puzzles, bowling, and singing.

Our Rachel was not a fragile flower, she was fragile as a bomb. She burst into the Ray household with exuberance and we never caught up. She never napped, was always busy, and had a lot of attitude and a lot of ambition. Rachel loved music. Rain, snow, sun, or even moose, she would swing with her Walkman and sing to her heart's content. Later in life, she would only sing if everyone was gone but still loved to sing loud. Rachel knew more movie and actor memorabilia than anyone I ever knew. Her memory was amazing and amusing at the same time. If I ever doubted her knowledge I would look it up and she was usually right.

Rachel loved people of all sizes and was generous to many. Her ability to claim and comfort small children was a big asset to her work at our child care center. She could get children to relax or she could get them wound up depending on the situation.

She enjoyed being THE aunt to her nephews and struggled when they were too old to hold and boss around.

Rachel was her own person. When others tried to limit her, she would find a way to make it work. She had a stubborn streak but she had an extra dose of kindness mixed in. Rachel saw the world in black and white so her love for God was total. She was always concerned if someone she loved did not understand how important God was for their lives. We had many discussions about not telling people they had to have God, but showing them through her life how genuine God is. Her genuine smile and quirky spirit will be most definitely missed by her family and friends.

Rachel is survived by her parents, Douglas A. and Natalie R. Ray of Palmer, AK; older sister Angelia Ray of Inwood Iowa; nephews, Shaylan and Greysen Ray of Inwood, Iowa; Aunts: Sylvia Pedersen (Bob) of Missoula, Montana; Phyllis Tag (Richard) of Missoula, Montana; Daisy Langton (Red) of Drummond, Montana; Esther Olthoff (Jamie) of Fairbanks, AK; Uncles: Paul Hanson (Maggie) of Missoula, Montana, Aaron Hanson (Wendy) of Wasilla, Alaska; and 55 cousins. Preceded in death by her younger brother, Jeremiah Ray, maternal and paternal grandparents and four cousins.