Jesse Ray

JESSE RAY- Reverend Jesse Ray, age 91, of Columbus, Mississippi, passed away October 30, 2023, at Trinity Personal Care. Funeral services will be Monday, November 6, 2023, at 11:00 A.M. at The Assembly with Reverend Jody Gurley officiating. Visitation will be from 9:30 A.M. until the time of service. A graveside committal will be held Tuesday, November 7, 2023, at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Dawson, Georgia. Memorial Gunter Peel Funeral Home & Crematory is in charge of the arrangements.

Jesse was born March 7, 1932, in Marietta, GA to the late Evelyn Brawner. He was a graduate of Hapeville High School in Atlanta, Georgia, and attended Bethel College. He was ordained as an Assemblies of God minister in 1951 and served churches across the southern United States for seven decades. He pastored churches in Dawson, Georgia; Bessemer, Alabama; Lagrange, Georgia; Madison, Tennessee; Columbus, Mississippi and Hurley, Mississippi. In addition to pastoring, he held revivals across the nation, was the speaker at numerous youth camps, as well as many other events. His love for people, coupled with his love of spreading the Good News, lead him to be "everyone's pastor" in many of the small towns he served. As a young and energetic pastor in Dawson, Georgia, he visited every hospital room, almost daily, whether the patient attended his church or not, and that was only after he had spread his unique humor, door to door, with every business in "downtown" Dawson each morning. He loved interacting with people, no matter their station in life, wanting to do whatever he could to brighten their day, including passing out peppermints to all he encountered, earning him the nickname "Sugar Ray." He never fully retired after pastoring, serving as a volunteer chaplain at Baptist Hospital in Columbus until the pandemic and was the Senior Citizens pastor at The Assembly, preaching the Tuesday before his death. He never stopped spreading the Gospel until he went to meet the One about whom he was so passionate.

In 1951, he married the love of his life, Barbara Jean Burden, and they remained sweethearts until she went to Heaven on April 12, 2023. Their over seventy-year romance was sometimes embarrassing for their children, as they often had to wait beside the car because "Doll" was not getting out until "Darling" opened her door. His family kidded him because he was always in a hurry and early for everything, no matter where he was going, and they had no doubt he would be in a hurry to join her. They sang together for years and one of their standards was "Glad Reunion Day": Their glad reunion day was only six months from her home going. The family kidding was absolutely correct, he was never more in a hurry than he was to be reunited with his sweetheart.

Jesse and Barbara had three children whom they loved, doted on and moved all over the south during a ministry and unique partnership that spanned in excess of seventy years. He was determined not only to preach the Gospel in every remote hamlet across the country, but at the same time provide the most loving home imaginable, and it is unquestioned that he succeeded in both endeavors. His children, grandchildren and great grandchildren never had a doubt how much he loved them, as he never ended a phone call or told them bye without first telling them that he loved them. His actions made it obvious that those words, which he never heard growing up, were not hollow or cursory salutations, but came from a deep love, and his desire to express and show the love to them that he never experienced.

As Jesse grew older, he loved to talk, some (in particular his sweetheart) might say brag, about his children or grandchildren, but his cheery disposition exploded with joy when told by some excited man or woman that they came to know the Lord at a revival he led, or at a youth camp where he was the speaker. He would become emotional when told by someone that they were now ministers because of his influence. He was absolutely committed to the never-ending quest to spread the Love of Jesus and adding souls to the Kingdom. That quest was fueled by what he experienced when he met Jesus, as he was transformed from a sad life to a life where he was the happiest person in every room he entered, usually hugging everyone in that room, telling a silly joke and passing out his famous peppermints. He would tell you unequivocally that he was so happy and passionate based on his relationship with Jesus because he was saved and given a new life as a result of meeting Him. His life changing encounter happened on a hot, July evening in 1947 in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Washington Street Church. He joyfully proclaimed for years, from pulpits in large arenas to small country churches, that "I knelt down as a lost, sad, poor 15-year-old boy at that altar, on a spot which is now third base in the Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, surrendered my life and gave my heart to Jesus and I’ve never been the same." His family and thousands of souls he led to Christ can attest that he was never the same from that night until the morning of October 30, 2023, when he finally met, face to face, the One to whom he gave and dedicated his life.

In addition to his Mother, he was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Burden Ray, daughter, Tawana Ray and brothers James Ray and Robert Ray.

Survivors include daughter, Renee' Cotton and her husband Bill of Lakeland, Florida, son, Rod Ray and his wife, Julia, of Columbus, Mississippi, and grandchildren, Mandy Cotton Brandt (Kevin), Brady Cotton (Amy), Evelyn Ray, Jones Ray and Parker Ray, great-grandchildren Olivia Brandt, Asher Brandt, Camryn Cotton and Aubrey Cotton.

Pallbearers will be Jones Ray, Parker Ray, Kevin Brandt, Benny Yarbrough, Bernard Howard and Lou Fratesi.

Memorials may be made to Teen Challenge of Mississippi, 5 Buford Lane, Poplarville, Mississippi 39740 or The Palmer Home 800 Baldwin Road South, Lake Cormorant, Mississippi 38641.