Home Local News IOWANS BID FAREWELL TO GOVERNOR ROBERT RAY

IOWANS BID FAREWELL TO GOVERNOR ROBERT RAY

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Former Iowa Gov. Robert D. Ray was remembered at his funeral as a public servant and humanitarian.

Family, friends and Iowa leaders gathered Friday for Ray’s funeral at the First Christian Church in Des Moines.

Ken Quinn, a former aide to Governor Ray, spoke of Ray’s work in welcoming refugees from Southeast Asia to Iowa.

Quinn accompanied Ray to a refugee camp on Thailand’s border.

OC…………miles away. ;20

Scott Raecker, a family friend who is director of the Ray Center at Drake University, delivered one of three eulogies.

OC……..family and friends. :22

The service ended with the congregation applauding the organist’s rendition of Ray’s campaign theme song: “Step to the Rear and Let a Winner Lead the Way.”

Ray died Sunday at age 89. He served five terms as Iowa’s governor from 1969 to 1983.

Ray will be buried at Resthaven Cemetery in West Des Moines.

Photos courtesy Drake University

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