Edward William Ray

Edward William Ray, 52, of Wake Forest, lost his 2-year battle with brain cancer on Saturday, July 23, 2022. He was born in Asheville, NC, on March 12, 1970, to Eugene and Ann (Pritchard) Ray.

Ed is preceded in death by his mother, Ann Ray. He is survived by his wife Jennifer (Gosnell) Ray of Wake Forest; children Cassidy and Lauren; father Eugene Ray; sisters Susan Riddle and Michelle Coleman.

Ed had received his master’s degree in Molecular Biology and had retired from GlaxoSmithKline after more than 20 years as Director of Global Ethics & Compliance and Director of Quality Assurance. After he retired from GSK, he decided to start his own company in Wake Forest called GAP Retirement Planning. He loved helping people and wanted to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

He was one of the best people you could ever meet. He was kind, sincere, and very humorous. Besides being very social, his family meant everything to him. He loved his children with all his heart. Ed was such a great dad and always had words of wisdom to share. He always seemed to know something about everything!

Ed was a devoted husband to his wife, Jennifer. They recently celebrated their 18th anniversary and were every bit as in love as the day they met. They enjoyed doing everything together and were rarely seen apart. Morning coffee was always their favorite time of day since that’s when they discussed how to fix the world’s problems or the next business venture they were going to tackle.

Ed found everything in nature fascinating and spent his downtime watching birds and animals. He loved being outside doing yard work, even on hot days. He enjoyed playing guitar, sailing, and reading. If there were a solar eclipse, meteor shower, or special moon phase, he would wake up the family to view it.

Instead of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, one of his favorite charities.

A celebration of life will be held privately for friends and family.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.