Levy, Ray
June 06, 2012Ray died quietly in his favourite armchair, in the presence of his devoted wife Mary while watching out of his favourite sports, GAA.
Ray was born on January 28, 1944 in the city of London in close proximity to the famous St. Paul's Cathedral. He was born to Jewish parents Sadie and Will Levy and was one of two children, he and his sister Betty, who still lives in London.
The love of Ray's life was firstly his devoted wife Mary and next in line was his Jack Russell dog Jasper. Ray first met Mary O'Neill in 1974. Mary who was originally from Cromane was a young student nurse at the time and he was a young policeman in the London Metropolitan police force.
Two years later they married and they enjoyed 36 years together, a really devoted couple who loved each other very much. They really did enjoy a great life together. They enjoyed many trips around the country and also around the world and fond memories of these trips will be treasured forever by Mary.
Ray was born and brought up in the Jewish faith but after three years of marriage and driving Mary to Mass every Sunday he decided on a few occasions to accompany her inside. After a few of these visits he decided to convert from Judaism to Catholicism and ever since then he has been a devoted and fervent Catholic.
At Ray's first ever visit to Kerry in 1976 he fell in love with the place and the people and pledged that one day they would return to live here. This they did in 1999 and since then he enjoyed every minute of every day, often commenting how privileged he felt to be living in such beautiful surroundings. He especially enjoyed walking in Dooks Strand which he did regularly.
After his return to Kerry he worked for Fexco/Western Union for 10 years and retired in 2010. Whilst there he made numerous friends of all aged and was a great confidant and friend to all. This was clearly demonstrated by the large attendance of his work colleagues at his wake and funeral guard of honour. There was also a guard of honour by The Caragh Bridge Angling club as Ray had been treasurer of the club for three years.
Hundreds of mourners from all over attended his wake which was held at his home in Sunhill. Amongst them were several of the Kerry GAA Supporters Club, many of whom travelled a great distance to be there. As a great lover of the GAA, Ray was a dedicated Kerry supporter, he travelled all over Ireland on the Kerry Supporters bus and enjoyed many exciting days in Croke Park supporting the Kerry team.
Ray was an excellent person, a man of great integrity, genuine, kind and caring. He was extremely pleasant, a smile for everyone, always welcoming and above all he was a real gentleman.
He will be very sadly missed by all his friends, his kind neighbours, his sister Betty, all of Mary's family who loved him dearly. Above all he will be profoundly missed by the love of his life, his devoted wife Mary.
Mary would like to thank all those who helped her to cope at such a difficult time. Ray was waked for two nights at his home in Sunhill and on the morning of his burial his remains were taken to St James's Church for his Requiem Mass followed by his burial afterwards at Ardmoniel Cemetery on Wednesday May 2.
Safe in the arms of Jesus, may he rest in peace.
- Courtesy of The Kerryman, 6th June 2012 Tweet
