Nov. 29, 1941 — March 11, 2024
Charlton Ray Embry was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Nov. 29, 1941, to Grady Ray and Charlton Jesse Embry. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Southern California. A few years later, Ray and his parents moved to Fales Hot Springs, a resort on the eastern side of the Sierras owned by his aunt and uncle. The clean and pure Nevada desert air resolved Ray’s allergies to the smoggy Southern California air.
Ray’s strongest memories were of his five-plus years at Fales Hot Springs. He learned to count by watching his family play poker with a purpose. The winner of the poker game was relieved of the task of making the snow-covered 15-mile drive to take Ray to and from his schoolhouse in Bridgeport. The Bridgeport elementary school staff were impressed with Ray’s quick mind, coupled with his ability to read and calculate, and they allowed him to skip two grades.
Ray and his parents moved to Tonopah, Nevada, a bit later, and Ray remembered the music teacher allowing him to participate in the annual parade. He was permitted to carry an instrument, but was not allowed to toot! Ray had a terrific memory, and always enjoyed the laughs he received as a gifted storyteller.
The next move was to Las Vegas, where Ray’s father taught him how to play golf. He frequently played with his father and other men, honing his golf skills. On her way to work during the summer, Ray’s mother dropped him off at the golf course with 35 cents, allowing him to buy a hotdog and a candy bar and play golf all day long.
At the age of 15, he was chosen to represent Nevada in a major junior golf tournament in Kansas. At the Kansas tournament, Ray played dime poker with Jack Nicklaus, who won all the dimes, and the tournament, as well. Ray felt he had a part in Nicklaus’s future as a champion golfer, as Ray had advised him of the use of cornstarch to prevent inner thigh irritation during the oppressive summer heat in Kansas. Ray continued to play golf for the remainder of his life.
Following his graduation from Las Vegas High School at the age of 16, Ray enrolled at Arizona State University in Tempe, and became a lifelong beer lover and an even more skilled golfer.
Later, he transferred to the University of Nevada at Reno, and while there encountered some wonderful English professors and found his professional calling. He graduated with an master’s in English. He married, and he and his lovely young wife joined the Peace Corps, serving in Ethiopia, an experience he remembered vividly. While there, he drove a Peace Corps Range Rover. The rule of the road was that the larger car had the right-of-way. But one day, the driver of a smaller oncoming car indicated they were not going to pull over for the Range Rover. Ray did pull over. As the smaller car passed, Ray noted the occupant was the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, whose guards were wielding large guns. Ray was a wise man!
Following a divorce, Ray accepted a teaching position at the University of Texas. He married the daughter of a former coach of the Texas Longhorns. He became a lifelong fan of the Dallas Cowboys. One day, Ray unintentionally spotted an opening for an English professor at the University of Hawaii. He and his wife spent three years in the Hawaiian sun teaching and playing golf and softball.
Upon his return from Hawaii, Ray secured a position with a new community college in Reno. He bought a home, went through another divorce, and married a woman with two adopted children. Though he loved the children, that marriage also ended in divorce. Sometime later, he married Sydney, who had a son, Erik. Sydney became his life partner for the next 45 years.
A few years into his career teaching at Truckee Meadows Community College in California, Ray and Sydney moved to Eugene for a short time while Ray earned his doctorate in higher education at the University of Oregon. They returned to Reno and the community college where he taught for over 25 years.
In 1998, following Ray’s retirement, he and Sydney moved to Modesto, California, Sydney’s childhood home. They played golf very frequently. One day in 2002, Ray had an epiphany in the golf course parking lot. He felt there must be more to life than golf. In fact, though he read voraciously, he was missing teaching and learning.
Sydney and Ray moved to Ashland, and though he continued to play golf with Sydney and his pals, he began teaching for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Ray loved teaching mature individuals who took classes for their own love of literature and learning. In preparation for each of the 50-plus OLLI classes he taught, Ray completed extensive research into subjects as varied as Classic Greek literature to the study of modern-day authors. At the close of each teaching session, students always clapped enthusiastically.
Ray was involved in securing $2 million in grants from the Osher Foundation for the enhancement of the wonderful OLLI program in Ashland. He contributed seed money for the remodeling of the educational facilities, and, staying true to his teaching roots, he funded a scholarship program for the community college students in Reno. He truly loved teaching, and his love was reciprocated by his students.
When he no longer trusted his memory and wanted to forgo embarrassment in class, he stopped teaching. He was later diagnosed with dementia. In 2022, Ray and Sydney moved once again to Modesto. The disease progressed, robbing Ray of his contact with others, his beloved language and his valued golf abilities. Ray passed away peacefully on March 11 with Sydney and Erik by his side.
Some of Ray’s ashes will be spread in a garden on the Old Smith Ranch in Modesto, a property settled in 1903 by Sydney’s grandparents, and still held in the family to this day. There in the garden Ray joins Sydney’s brother and cousin. Per his wishes, Ray’s remaining ashes will be spread at Fales Hot Springs, where he held early and fond memories.
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