Allen Ray Caldwell

Allen Ray Caldwell, a native of Hudson Oaks, Texas passed away May 15, 2014 at the age of 87. A funeral service will be held at 10:00am Monday, May 19th at Spring Creek Baptist Church in Weatherford, Texas. Son Jim Caldwell & the Reverend Steve McCaslin will officiate.
Ray enlisted in the United States Navy in 1945, a week after completing his senior year in high school. He was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as a parachute rigger, and as luck would have it, the war ended before he saw any combat action. He was offered multiple athletic scholarships at Baylor, The University of Texas, and Southwest Texas State Teacher’s College (now known as Texas State University). After a year at Baylor, and another at Wharton Junior College, Ray finished his degree in Mathematics at Southwest Texas State Teacher’s College. It was at this time that Ray reconnected with a childhood friend, Shirley, whom he had known since the age of eight – and thus begun one of the world’s great romances.
Ray and Shirley were married in 1952 on the television show, “Bride & Groom” on the CBS Network in New York City, a great adventure for two small town sweethearts. They were also treated to a two-week honeymoon tour of New England. They settled in New Gulf, Texas, where Ray undertook a family tradition of work service at The Texas Gulf Sulfur Company, as a production engineer. It was there they started their family, and later moved to Richmond, Texas, where they lived until retirement. Ray and Shirley lived out their retirement years in Waco and Weatherford, Texas. They enjoyed frequent and numerous national road trips, together, and with their three grandchildren. Together, they have visited all 48 of the continental United States.
Ray was an avid sports and outdoorsman. He played football at Wharton Junior College and Southwest Texas, and was a competition-class diver. He played championship flight golf, and was a devoted volunteer in service to the Boy Scouts of America, serving as a Scout Master.
Throughout his life, Ray was an active servant of his church. In his later years, he was especially active in Lay Renewal Ministries all over the United States. He was ordained as a deacon at Calvary Baptist Church in Rosenberg, Texas in 1974, and served as a deacon in all the churches of which he was a member, until old age prevented his active service. Ray was widely known as a witness of Christ, and will truly leave the world a better place than when he came into it.
Ray is survived by his wife of 62 years, Shirley; his sons Allen, Jim, and Jim’s wife Debbie; and four grandchildren, Meagan and her husband Eric, Jacob & Zachary. He was preceded in death by his parents, Mattye and Allen Caldwell.
 

Service: 10:00 a.m. Monday, May 15, 2014 Spring Creek Baptist Church
Interment: Spring Creek Cemetery