Raymond DeVries, 85, died on July 6, 2009 at Pleasant View Good Samaritan Center in Corsica. Funeral service will be Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 10:30 AM at First Reformed Church in Harrison with burial following in Harrison City Cemetery in Harrison. Visitation will be Wednesday, July 8, 2009 from 5 – 8 PM at First Reformed Church in Harrison with a prayer service at 7:00 PM. Arrangements by Koehn Bros. Funeral Home in Armour.

Ray was born January 28, 1924, on a farm south of Harrison to Albert and Anna (Vanden Berge) DeVries. He was baptized at the First Reformed Church in Harrison and later became a member there, confessing his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. He served as a deacon and elder in the church for many years.

At the age of four, Ray and his family moved to a farm in Pleasant Lake Township, Aurora County. His formal education began at the Pleasant Lake Consolidated School. He later attended the Garden Valley School through the 8th grade after his family moved to a farm in Douglas County.

Ray worked on several farms in the region before joining the US Navy in March of 1945. He served in the Navy until the end of World War II. He was a member of the Everson-Beukelman American Legion in Corsica, SD.

On June 17, 1947, he married Ruby Uilenberg. They lived on a farm north of Harrison. To this union four children were born: Mary Elaine, David Ray, Ruth Renee and Laura Lynn. In 1965 they sold the farm and moved to Harrison where they had purchased the hardware store and started a well repair business. In 1972 they sold the hardware store and operated the well repair business fulltime. Ray retired from the well repair business in 2002. He also retired from the Douglas Electric Board of Directors in 2002 after serving as a director for 18 years. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather and will be sadly missed. He died at Pleasant View Good Samaritan Center in Corsica on July 6, 2009 at the age of 85.

Ray was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers (Arie, Ernest and Adrian), two sisters (Clara DeVries and Alida DeBoer), and his son David. He is survived by his wife Ruby; his daughters Mary (Douglas) O’Neill, Ruth (Scott) Fehrenkamp, and Laura (Patrick) Cosgriff; daughter-in-law Rose (Rasmussen) DeVries; and 13 grandchildren Heather (Kevin) Lathrop, Erik (Ann), Jaimie (Becky), Sean, Brittany, and Laurel O’Neill, Matthew DeVries, Sheena Rasmussen, Jim and Dan Fehrenkamp, and Henry, Maggie, and Bernie Cosgriff; and 8 great-grand children.