Ray Lynn Deaton, Jr. was born March 8, 1962 to Ray Deaton, Sr. and Norma (Brown) Deaton in Fresno, California, and passed from this life on February 27, 2019 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ray moved with his family from California to Oklahoma at the age of six, and from that point on he made Oklahoma his life-long home. He played a number of sports in high school, including football, wrestling, and weight lifting. He even helped his football team in Davis win the State Championship.

Ray worked for many years as a truck driver and though this work would take him away from home for weeks at a time, his family remembers with love how eager he was to return, and how warmly he greeted them. Ray was always positive, and never failed to speak his mind. He was something of a poet and he also loved Elvis. He especially loved, and was loved by, his wife Mary, with whom he shared 24 years of his life.

Ray is preceded in death by his father, Ray, Sr., and two brothers, Curtis Deaton and Wayne Deaton; two uncles and one aunt.

Ray is survived by his wife, Mary Deaton; by his mother, Norma Deaton; by five children, Christopher Stuart, Ashley Garcia, Steven Deaton, Dillon Ward, and Samantha Ward; by nine grandchildren; by his sister, Donna Soirez; by his life-long friend Ed Warner; and by many other relatives and friends.

Funeral services for Ray Deaton, Jr. will be held on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 at 2:00pm at the First Assembly of God of Wetumka. Interment will follow at Wetumka Cemetery. Rev. Edwin Warner will officiate. Pallbearers will be Michael Deaton, Augustine Garcia, Lynn Deaton, Larry Brown, Gary Brown, and Robert Rhinehart. Honorary pallbearers will be Edwin Warner, Stan Jones, and Danny Cooper.