Sheila Latine Ray

Sheila L. Ray was born August 8, 1945, to Tina and Virgil Bowman. She graduated from Rochester High School in 1964. She waited faithfully for the one and only love of her life while he served his country overseas and eventually married him. Sheila and Curtis Ray were married on June 5, 1965. They recently celebrated 42 loving years of marriage. They had two children, Curtis James Ray (Chris) of Big Rapids and Denise Lyn (Walt) Leibold of West Branch. They each have two children, Kelsey and Kaitlyn Ray and Christian and Ariana Leibold. Instead of working outside the home, Sheila sacrificially chose to devote her life to serving and caring for her family. Sheila was the most beautiful, likable, compassionate, spirited person you could ever know. She did a random act of kindness for someone every day. She was the most generous person who loved to help anyone in need any time they needed her. She loved sweet, floral perfumes. She loved going to garage sales and the St. Vincent de Paul’s store. She enjoyed learning new recipes and loved baking. She was known for her classic Robert Redford dessert. She always made special cakes for friends and family for any occasion. She had a tremendous sense of humor. She was very empathetic for people and there was nothing she would not do for anyone. She had great leadership ability and every person she met became a friend. She went out of her way to make people feel welcome, important, and included. She loved the color yellow. She was fun and loved to make people laugh. She liked cloudy, rainy days and loved the sound of rain on a tin roof. She was quick-witted. She was always ready with a nice compliment. She had the highest moral standards. She was a classic beauty. She was extremely loyal to family, friends, and especially to God. She loved a delicious prime rib dinner. She enjoyed old-time southern gospel music. She loved her faithful dog, Cade, who was her constant companion. Most of all in life, she loved and adored her Lord and her four grandchildren. She spent her entire life instilling the importance of Jesus in the lives of her children and grandchildren. From the time her children were born, she began her lifelong teaching of the importance of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and following God’s word. She was never embarrassed to share her beliefs about her love for the Lord with anyone she met. She cherished her four grandchildren as if they were her own children, and there was nothing on earth she would not do for them. She was the happiest in life when she was with her grandkids. She instilled in them the importance of following Jesus and the unconditional love she had for them now and forever. She made them feel as if they were the most important people in the world to her. They cherished and adored her immensely and always will. There was no other person they would want to be with more than “LaLa”, and there was no one “LaLa” would rather be with than her grandchildren. She was one of a kind and God broke the mold when He made Sheila. Sheila is survived by her husband and children, her mother, Tina Bowman of Rochester, her sister, Sharla (Jerry) Faulkner of Rochester, many sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, and countless friends, and her loyal and loving dog, Cade. Visitation at Steuernol & McLaren Funeral Home in West Branch will begin on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at Ogemaw Hills Free Methodist Church with Pastor Victor Schreffler officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Helping Hands.