For those of you that knew/know Ray and myself well. You all know the kind of life we had/lived. Basically we were born to a young teenage mother who not only was struggling financially to take care of Ray and I, but with a drug problem as well. At the age of seventeen and already trying to raise two children on her own, our mother was arrested for Theft and Tampering with Coin Machines. She was sentenced to prison and because at the time it was unknown if my father (Sperm Doner) was also Rays father we were seperated. Ray was taken to family of his possible father in Columbus, OH and I was placed with my grandparents (fathers parents) in Springfield, OH. We would not see each other again until I was fourteen years old. Unfortuanately Ray was returned back to our mother, and I say unfortuanately because she was still struggling with drugs and dating VERY abusive men. Abusive towards Ray and her! By the time I came back into their lives She was finally over all that and had married a great man (Kevin Lewis) who unfortuanately then was killed by a drunk driver. She remarried and all was still well. We saw eachother frequently and when I was sixteen years old I moved in with them. Ray and I were Metal Heads/Punk Rockers/Just all out defiant and walked our own path. We went through many ADVENTURES which are too numerous to try and place on here. Again those who knew us most likely know all or most of them or have at least heard about them. Later our mom found our Brother, Daniel Straley, and sister, Brandy Chapman, who were taken by their father years before. They ame to live with us and it was a great time in all our lives. Unfortunately like every good thing in our moms life it came to an abrupt end. Our mom found out that she had cancer and for a short period it went into remission then returned with a vengence. Brandy and Danny were sent back to live with their father and endured years of abuse before the state finally took action. In 1994 our mother passed away of cancer at the age of 35. We were both very depressed and felt so alone at that point. We had so much support though from eachother and from our many friends whom over the years became our family. Basically Rays life started going very well. He was working, had a great band (PAWN) and was very happy. I had joined the Army and was traveling, but always knew that Ray was well taken care of by our extened family (Friends). We tried to do our best to keep in contact with eachother and our brother and sister, but it was sometimes hit and miss. Then for whatever reason Ray decided to leave PAWN and moved to Cincinnatti, OH. This is where it all started to fall apart. At first he was OK. Working two jobs, writing and starting a new band. Then he began to use cocaine. He lost his jobs, learned his girl was cheating, and found out that his ex-girl was pregnant. He steadily fell into a depression which we all (Friends & myself) were always able to get him out of. But this time it seemed to be very hard to do. I returned from Korea and visited Ray in Cinci and he seemed alright at that time. That was in December 1997. We had a great weekend and I saw his new pad, his new band and got the tour of Cinci since I hadn't seen it in many years. I returned to my Duty Station in Ft. Campbell, KY to prepare for another trip for training. It was just two days before I shipped out, Jan. 28, 1998. I came home late that day from working on the railhead getting trucks ready. When I walked through the door my wife (now ex) looked at me funny. I asked what was wrong and she told me that one of Rays friends found him hanging in the tree in the back yard. He had took an orange extention cord from the bar that was attatched to his apartment, attatched one end to the tree and the other around his neck, placed his hands in his pockets and basically sat down and leaned forward. Dispite all the efforts of his roommates to help him through his problems Ray took his own life. It was estimated that he did this around 3am. Ray was found 3pm the next day. His beautiful daughter Kaitlyn Rae was born just a couple months later in March. Due to Rays death she was eligible for Social Security. This is when my father (sperm doner) came in. I was gone again with the military so they did the DNA test through him. It was a match and Kaitlyn was Rays (like you couldn't tell by the pics) and Ray was my fathers (sperm doner) son. So there you have it! Rays' life in a nut shell. It wasn't the greatest by far, but we always were surrounded by great people. For that I think you all...you know who you are. Ray loved you all and so do I....We did all we could for Ray and even though we ask ourselves everyday if it was enough...just remember he was very happy and we all have so many great memories to hold onto and cherrish forever till we see his crazy ass again....Thank you all, Rusty