Emma Ruth Simmons Ray

EMMA RUTH SIMMONS RAY DARLINGTON, S.C. EMMA RUTH SIMMONS RAY, 86, of the Bethea Baptist Home, passed away Sunday, December 9, 2012 after an illness. Mrs. Ray was born in Nakina, NC, a daughter of the late Benjamin Jasper and Emma Jane Smith Simmons. She was a homemaker, and had been a member of Grace Baptist Church before moving to the Bethea Baptist Home. Surviving is her son James Danny Ray and his wife Debby of Florence, a son-in-law, Larry Watford of Florence, a brother, Lonnie (Shirley) Simmons of Fayetteville, grandchildren, Dan (Jessica) Ray and Mandy (James) Floyd, both of Florence; great-grandchildren, Danielle Ray, Jodie Ray and Abbie Floyd. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, James Harvey Ray, her daughter, Doris Ann Watford, and three brothers, Edgar, Roscoe and Lloyd Simmons. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. Wednesday, December 12, 2012 in the First Free Will Baptist Church. Interment will follow in Florence Memorial Gardens, directed by Stoudenmire-Dowling Funeral Home. The family will receive friends from 6-8:00 P.M. Tuesday at the funeral home. Mrs. Ray's family wishes a special Thank You to the staff and doctors of Bethea Baptist Home and McLeod Hospice for their care and attention to Mrs. Ray during her illness. Please sign the online guest registry at www.stoudenmiredowling.com.