Raymond O. Williams, Jr.

Raymond O’Brien Williams, Jr. was born September 10, 1942 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Raymond O Williams, Sr. and Bernadette Norwood Williams. He was the oldest of five children. Ray Jr. moved to Los Angeles, California with his parents and younger brother Ronald in 1946. They settled on East 120th Street where younger siblings Roland, Debra and Reagan joined the family.

Raymond attended St. Leo Elementary School and spent his freshman year at St. Anthony High School in Long Beach. He graduated from Centennial High School in Compton, California in 1960. Raymond attended Los Angeles City College before joining the U.S. Army in 1961. He served two years of military duty. In July of 1964 Raymond married Carmen Anderson and together they raised their two children Kelli and Keith in West Covina, California. Raymond retired from the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1994 after 30 years of service. His primary craft was that of pipefitter. If you were around Ray for perhaps five minutes you immediately knew what his passions were! He was an avid sports fan, music and movie buff and enthusiastic reader of mystery novels. Raymond’s favorite football teams were the Los Angeles Rams (Fearsome Foursome Days) and the New Orleans Saints. He was very knowledgeable when it came to music history and musical artists, specifically relating to rhythm and blues and jazz.

Raymond was quite the pool shark! He won several billiard tournaments along the way and relatively recently at the Cerritos Senior Center. His stories at family gatherings about “back in the day” were quite entertaining and often humorous! Raymond was preceded in death by his parents and Brother Ronnie. He leaves behind his children, Kelli and Keith; Carmen; His grandchildren Matthew, Madisyn, Sophia and Kannon; His brothers Roland, Reagan and sister Debbie; sisters-in-law Donna, Loretta, Barbara and Myrna and brother-in-law Lloyd. There are many nephews, nieces, cousins and friends as well as neighbors at City View, Long Beach. Raymond had a longtime best friend in Warner Williams who was loyal and supportive to the end. His cousin Kenny Norwood checked in on him weekly.

Rest in Eternal Peace: Ray Jr., Pops, Papa, Brother Ray and Uncle Raymond. You will be dearly missed!

Luyben Dilday Mortuary (562) 425-6401