OBIT: Brenda Cassity Ray
Mrs. Brenda Cassity Ray, of Murfreesboro, died at the home of her sister, Dianne, in Watertown on Monday morning, June 22, 2020, at 1 a.m., following a battle with cancer. She was pronounced deceased at 5:35 a.m. by Avalon Hospice of Lebanon.
A Celebration of her Life was conducted from the Woodfin Memorial Chapel in Murfreesboro on Saturday afternoon, June 27th, at 5 p.m. with her brother, Nick Cassity, delivering the eulogy.
Mrs. Ray was cremated on Thursday at the Woodfin Crematory in Murfreesboro.
Mrs. Ray was one of three daughters and three sons born to the late William Fredreck Cassity, who died on February 20, 1969 at the age of 40 in a train/trucking accident in Muncie, Indiana, and Suenell Wilmore Cassity, who died December 18, 1990 at the age of 59, and was born Brenda Sue Cassity at the former Martha Gaston Hospital in Lebanon on April 15, 1948 and spent her childhood in the Defeated Creek community where she attended elementary school.
Mrs. Ray was united in marriage to Jerry H. Ray, a Belk community native of Dekalb County, on December 22, 1967 and he preceded her in death on November 1, 2019 at the age of 71, also from cancer.
They were preceded in death by a son, Joseph Wesley Ray, who died at birth.
In her early teens she was saved and was baptized into the full fellowship of the Defeated Creek Missionary Baptist Church in the Difficult community.
Mrs. Ray was a 1966 graduate of Smith County High School where she was an outstanding basketball player all four years as # 20, was a member of the “C” Club all four years and served as sergeant-at-arms her senior year, majored in social studies and business education, was a member of the Future Homemakers of America her freshman and sophomore years, a member of the pep club, and her senior year was a member of the art club and served as the club secretary.
It was said of her in her 1966 annual, “There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness”.
She continued her education and attended the Middle Tennessee State University and Austin Peay State University at Clarksville where she studied Fine Art and Photography.
For the past fifteen years she had been a member of the Cannon County Walking Horse Association, located on Short Mountain in Cannon County.
Mrs. Ray had a deep love for sports and the outdoors and was willing to give any outdoor activity a try with enthusiasm.
Living her life to the fullest, she especially enjoyed horseback riding, kayaking and camping in her later years.
Never having met a stranger and possessing a giving heart, she cherished her family, her many friends and especially mentoring others.
Near the end of her life she was often asked how she and Jerry could have fifty three years of such a blissful marriage. Her answer; “Trust, unconditional love, and space… Trust, if you don’t have trust, then you don’t have anything. Love, if you love your partner enough that love runs deeper than any problem… Space, you both have to have your own space, as well as togetherness, and your love fills that space”.
Survivors include her two daughters, Jerie “Angie” Ray and companion, Terry Givens; Jennifer LeAnn Snow and husband, Jared; four grandchildren, Morgan Alonzo and husband Chris, Perry Burton, Casidy “Luna” Snow and Ian Snow; three great-grandchildren, Hazlie, Ariana and Leland, all of Murfreesboro; two sisters, Dianne Cassity McIntyre of the Cherry Valley community at Watertown, Pam Smith and husband, Ted, of Glendale, Arizona, Nick Cassity and wife, Robin Comstock Cassity, of the Turkey Creek community, David Cassity and wife, Debbie Gregory Cassity, of the Defeated Creek community, John Cassity of the Tanglewood community; uncle, Nick Terry Wilmore, of the Rome community; many nieces and nephews.
A sister, Dianne Cassity McIntyre, lost her husband, Raymond David McIntyre, on November 28, 2018, at the age of 71.
This notice provided as a courtesy to the Cassity-Ray families.
SANDERSON of CARTHAGE
