Raymond "Ray" Eugene Eddy

ARIZONA CITY - Raymond Eugene "Ray" Eddy, 80, of Arizona City died at home on Feb. 2, 2016, after a year-long battle with cancer.

Mr. Eddy was born on July 7, 1935, to Naomi E. Hussey Eddy and was adopted by his stepfather, Ernest Eddy, at an early age. Raised in Muskegon, Michigan, he left high school and joined the Air Force at 17. After serving for 21 years as a jet engine mechanic with tours in Greenland, Korea and Thailand, he retired in 1973 as a technical sergeant teaching jet engine mechanics and became an automotive instructor and later, a supervisor, at Lincoln Technical Institute in Indianapolis, where he worked for 31 years before retiring in 2004. During his time at Lincoln Tech he received a GED and attended Indiana State University to receive a Bachelor of Science degree.
In the late 1980s he picked up woodcarving and began selling his work at well-known folk art shows and galleries across the country, including the Smithsonian Institution gift shop. His work was photographed in homes featured in County Home and Country Living magazines. After retiring, he and his wife moved to Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and lived there three years to be closer to her brother and his family. Missing their children and grandchildren, they went back to Indiana. When stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson in 1968-69 they had decided that at some point they wanted to return, and they moved to Arizona City in 2011.

He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Elizabeth M. Parker Eddy, in 2012. Survivors include five daughters and sons, Janice L. Rice of Illinois, Pamela A. Wise of Indiana, Michael E. Eddy of Michigan, Christopher J. Eddy of Arizona and Lois E. McFarland of Indiana; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

He was not a "pomp and circumstance kind of guy" and did not want a service, but simply to be remembered as a good, kind and giving man who was devoted to his family. His remains will be interred with his wife of more than 50 years.

J. Warren Funeral Services, Cole & Maud The Gardens Chapel was in charge of arrangements.