Ray Brancacio

Ray was born on May 11th, 1946 in Pomona, California. He and his family lived in Pomona until he was 5 years old and then moved to Upland, California in the canyon leading up to Mt. Baldy. At 8 years old he was running a small sawmill for his dad on their place. He attended school in Upland until he moved in with grandparents in Hesperia. He competed his senior year while there and graduated at Victorville High School in 1964.

Growing up in Upland, his passion was baseball and he played in Little League, Pony League and Colt League until he moved in 1963. His grandfather taught him to build there in the desert and he fell in love with it. He learned the “old school” building techniques and never forgot them.

He met Diane when they both lived in the canyon, he on one side and she on the other. They married on May 15th, 1964. Ray got a job working in a theater for his best friend’s dad while Diane finished her senior year at Upland High School. In 1965 they moved to Orange County and he worked in the maintenance department for Alpha Beta Markets, corporate. He helped build 4 stores in the Valley and was responsible over the maintenance for each store.

Their sons Anthony and Chad were born while living in the San Fernando Valley. Tony in 1967 and Chad in 1970.

Ray knew he did not want to raise his family in the city so in 1970 he decided to strike out for “higher ground”. He didn’t stop until he got to Tulelake, California. They had no family there and knew no one, but he also knew that they would be happy in Oregon. He had difficulty finding a job in building so he went to work in a potato shed, sewing 100 lb. potato sacks. The owner found out that Ray was a builder by trade and asked him to remodel his basement. He was so impressed, he started telling people how pleased he was with his building skills… the rest became history! He built for many contractors, honing his skills, until he got his own contractor’s license and began building and remodeling on his own.

Diane started attending the Malin Baptist Church where the pastor was a carpenter. Ray was never interested in “church”, until he met a pastor in flannel shirts, Levi’s, wore cowboy boots and was a carpenter! He decided to check this church out. Didn’t take long before Ray was attending every Sunday and in 1973 he asked the Lord to come into his heart, was baptized and became a solid member of the Malin Baptist Church family. Their boys were raised in the church until they both graduated and went into the military in 1985 and 1988.

When Ray wasn’t building, he was involved with Little League baseball where he coached his boys in Little League and Babe Ruth baseball. He was instrumental in getting the Little League and Babe Ruth fields built in the Malin Park. He was president of the OreCal Babe Ruth for 2 years. He loved being involved in baseball with his boys and other young boys in the community. He enjoyed watching his sons play football and baseball while they attended and graduated from Lost River High School.

His other passion was hunting and he enjoyed going with the men of the church. When his boys were old enough they were right there beside him. Those years brought him closer to the Lord, his sons and his church family.

Thanks to Colin Pope, Ray found a new sport he said he would never play, GOLF! He found out it was really fun and he could laugh at himself for making mistakes. His boys loved golfing too, so they had great times together after they became young men.

His final passion was his grandchildren. He loved being a grandfather and they loved him too because he was funny and loving. He tried to make all their games, including baseball (of course!), volleyball, softball and football. He couldn’t have been prouder of them both and loved them more with each passing year.

Ray’s early years of hard work and many falls took a toll on his body in these last years. His body was breaking down and he couldn’t do all the things he loved to do. He loved working, hunting and keeping up with all that entails. When he knew he could not share in these things any longer, he was ready to be with his Lord and talked about it often. In God’s grace, Jesus called him “home” on February 6th, 2023.

Ray is survived by his wife Diane, sons Anthony Ray and Chad Eric, daughter Jennifer Ann, grandchildren Julia Ann and Vincent Marcus, all of Klamath Falls, Oregon, his sister Virginia Comstock of Cucamonga California and brother George Michael Brancacio of Las Vegas Nevada.

There will be a memorial service on March 11th at 1 PM at the Malin Baptist Church.

Everyone is welcome to come and share with his family.