Ray Lee Gumb age 86 of Burwell passed away September 23, 2021 at Community Memorial Health Center.
Memorial services will be held Monday, September 27, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. at the First Congregational Church in Burwell, NE. Visitation will be Sunday, 5-7pm at Hitchcock Funeral Home. Pastor Alan Petersen will officiate. Memorials suggested to Burwell Veterans Memorial Park or to Burwell Legion Post 298 building fund.
Ray was born September 3, 1935 in northern Garfield County to Clarence W. and Daisy (Palmer) Gumb. Ray was the 8th of 9 children.
Ray spent his early years on the family ranch and attended the Kincaid School through the 8th grade. At the age of 23 he enlisted in the Army. He was very proud of his service in the Army and served from October, 1958 to July, 1960. He was stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado, Fort Ord in California, and Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri where he met his future wife Margie Woodruff. They were married July 2, 1960 in the United
Methodist Church in Bourbon, Missouri. After being discharged from the Army they returned to the family ranch, where they were blessed with 3 children: Susan, Lin, and Judy.
Ray and Margie milked cows for several years and raised Hereford cattle. Ray loved working cattle and continued raising cattle until he sold his herd in 2005. He then watched over the cattle he took in making sure they always had salt and mineral. Ray’s love of cattle carried over to his weekly job working at the Burwell Livestock Market for 35 years. He loved visiting with the buyers and always had a sucker for the little kids. He also worked at the Ericson and Sargent Livestock Markets.
One of Ray’s great passions was 4-H. As the children grew up, he supported everything that they were in. Many times there were 9 -10 of either fat cattle and/or breeding heifers at the county fair, State Fair, and Aksarben.
Ray had a love for the outdoors and many weekends in the winter you would find him coyote hunting with his beloved greyhounds. He also enjoyed hunting deer, grouse, prairie chickens, and doves. One of his greatest joys was taking his grandkids out hunting because he knew the best spots and many deer and birds were harvested under his supervision.
Ray loved his music. Many nights you would find him singing and playing either his banjo, guitar, or organ. He passed his love of music onto his grandchildren.
Ray loved rodeos and never missed Nebraska’s Big Rodeo. He was an active participant in the Wild Horse Race in his younger years. Ray traveled a lot of miles going to high school rodeos for not only Lin, but Brett and Sarah. And Ray loved high school sports. Ray and Margie spent many hours traveling between Burwell, Milford, Taylor, and even Chadron State College watching their grandchildren play volleyball, football, basketball, wrestling, and track. Ray made a positive impact on many young people’s lives and had many young friends in Burwell and surrounding areas. He loved kids of all ages and nothing made him smile bigger than a little kid, especially his great grandchildren.
Ray is survived by his wife Margie Gumb, daughter and son-in-law Susan & Alan Petersen and their children Andra & Chet Smith, Mark & Erika Petersen, Trent & Hailey Petersen, Alex & Bailey Petersen; son and daughter-in-law Lin & Marie Gumb, and their children Brett & Taylor Gumb, Lindsy & Brian Roberts, Sarah & Ryan Jurgensen; and daughter and son-in-law Judy & Jim Davenport and their children Josh & Chantel
Davenport, Jon Davenport, Jesse Davenport; and 15 great grandchildren.
He is preceded in death by his parents, 2 brothers Dale and Bill, and 6 sisters Marjorie, Norma, Doris, Lily, Wilda, and Ilene.
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