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Mrs. Phyllis Bradley Ray, 98, a resident of Luverne, Alabama, passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 1, 2020. The family held a private graveside service on Monday, February 3rd, in Luverne Emmaus Cemetery.

Mrs. Ray so excelled at academics that she graduated from high school at only 16. She later graduated from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in 1942 as a registered nurse. While working at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, she met and married the love of her life, a young soldier named James C. Ray. Following his service in World War II, they moved to Luverne and worked together to help open Kendrick Memorial Hospital in 1947. Besides her nursing career, Mrs. Ray was a devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. In her free time, she was also an avid reader, which led her to become a patron of the local library. She lived a long, full life, and her memory will be cherished in the four generations of descendants she leaves behind.

Mrs. Ray was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. James Clark Ray; their son, James C. Ray Jr; her parents, Thomas Edgar and Beatrice Hanna Bradley; and two siblings, Thomas Bradley and Margaret Cunningham. She is survived by her two children, Tom (Debby) Ray and Judy (Irvin) Russell, six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, eight great-great-grandchildren, one niece, and one nephew.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Luverne Public Library.