Barbara Anne (Brown) Ray

CAPE ELIZABETH – Barbara Anne Brown Ray, 85, of Cape Elizabeth, passed away on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, at the Scarborough Terrace in Scarborough, of natural causes.

She was born in Cape Elizabeth on Feb. 3, 1939, the daughter of the late Philip and Margaret Brown. Barbara was a class of 1957 graduate of Cape Elizabeth High School where she was an excellent student and basketball cheerleader. Following high school, she studied at Becker Junior College.

After college, Barbara returned to Cape Elizabeth to start her family and career. This is where she married her high school sweetheart Creed “Teddy” Ray and together they were happily married for 60 years before his death in 2019.

Her career included working as a paralegal at Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson, she was a real estate salesperson for several years while her boys were playing sports and growing up and then spent 16 years working for the Town of Cape Elizabeth as the Executive Assistant to the Town Manager before retiring in 2003.

For Barbara, family and her community were everything! Her passion for her family was a life-long commitment to always love, protect and to give her children every opportunity in life. She was always their biggest fan and was always in the stands cheering and on special occasions you would hear her patented whistle of support. This support would continue later in life as she was always visible watching her son, Jim, coaching Varsity Boys’ Basketball at Cape Elizabeth High School.

She loved her friends (especially her Club57 friends), her family pets and especially loved her kitty cats as they were her special companions over the years. Barbara was a life-long resident of Cape Elizabeth, and she made a positive impact her entire life as a citizen and employee of the community.

In addition to her predeceased husband, Ted, family members include her four boys, Creed IV and wife, Renelle, James Ray and wife, Susan, Philip Ray and his wife, MT, and her late son, Brian Ray; seven grandchildren, Nicholas and wife Lauren, Thomas and wife Gabe, Creed V, Kelli and her husband Drew, Kyle, Alex, and Kaitlyn; two great-grandchildren, Parker and Tommy John; two deceased siblings, Bob and Bill Brown; and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Special thanks to her caregivers Cathy Rand and Carol Craig plus the staff at Scarborough Terrace for their care and support during her final months.

The burial will be private for immediate family at a later date. Please join the family for visiting hours to celebrate Barbara’s life at Hobbs Funeral Home in South Portland on Friday, March 1, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. A reception following the visitation hours will be held at Willow’s, 740 Broadway, South Portland. For online condolences, please visit the website at http://www.hobbsfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made online to the American Cancer Society at http://www.donate.cancer.org.