Obituary

William Daniel "Danny" Ray II
(1961 - March 2, 2016)

William Daniel Ray II, "Danny,” “Mom's beautiful boy”, 54, died unexpectedly on March 2, at Cabell Huntington Hospital. He was the son of Patricia Hope "Pat" and William Daniel "Bill Dan" Ray; brother of sisters and sister-in-laws, Toodie Ray and Donna Earles and Jessica Ray and Dawn Rollin; uncle of Ian Marshall and Morgan Hope Thomas. He also leaves behind Aunts: Janet Chaffin, Vicki Smith, Peg Roberson, and Patty Ann Schulze, two special cousins, Jeane and Billy Jack Chaffin, a surrogate sister, Karen Irwin, longtime friend, Clara Adkins, four legged friend, Sadie, and scores of cousins, friends, students, and colleagues too numerous to name. He loved us all with his great big heart. He was preceded in death by maternal and paternal grand parents, Irene and Jesse Chaffin and Hester and Dayton Faulkner; two aunts: Judy Chaffin and Lucille Chaffin; five uncles: Frank Ray, Donald Chaffin, Pete Roberson, Tony Chaffin, and Bill Jack Chaffin, and a first cousin: Jeff Ray. Danny was the coach and director of "The Thundering Word," Marshall University's Speech and Debate Team, taking them from literally non-existing to a nationally ranked team in just a few short years. His team members, present and past, all the high school students he worked with, the national university speech family along with Marshall's campus, both students and faculty will miss him profoundly. Danny worked in professional theatre in New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Yet it is the tri-state theatre community that has lost one of its finest actors, singers, dancers, directors, and most of all audience members. Ask anyone who has ever been on stage in this community and they will say, “If Danny was in the audience, you knew it”…he had the biggest, loudest laugh that rang-out through Marshall’s theatres, Huntington’s, Beckley’s, or Logan’s amphitheatres, and Huntington’s City Hall’s or Museum of Art’s auditoriums. He is perhaps best remembered for the characters of Alfred P. Doolittle from My Fair Lady, Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof, and his favorite role, the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. Just like the lion, Danny taught so many people to look inside themselves and find the courage that was there all along whether it was to study hard to pass a test, score an A on an oral presentation, win a speech trophy, or bring down the house with the role of a life time. Our family will heal but will forever have a hole in its heart that can never be filled. We will miss his infectious laugh, his brilliance, his game playing skills and great story telling; we’ve lost the “Danny Way.” He was a member of Kuhn Memorial Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the church. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 4, 2016 at the Wallace Funeral Home & Chapel, with a Celebration of Life service starting at 8 p.m. The service will be led by the Rev. Patrick Ryan.