Edward Coray

J. Edward Coray

J. Edward Coray, beloved husband, father, grandfather and new great grandfather, passed away Sunday, Dec. 28 after suffering a stroke.  Born September 16, 1923 in Ogden, Utah to Claude Laville and Lillian Flygare Coray, he attended Polk Elementary, Central Jr. High, and Ogden High Schools.  He graduated as the valedictorian from Anchorage High School in Alaska.  Ed earned a B.S. in business administration from the University of Utah in 1946.  While there, he served as Student Body Treasurer and was a proud member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and the Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society.  Ed was considered by all who knew him as a brilliant person, a top student, a life-long voracious reader, and a man with answers (long before Google).

Ed had a long and successful career at Tech-Steel, Inc., a steel fabricating company of which he was a founder.  He was an award winning table tennis player.  He also enjoyed racquetball, squash, tennis, badminton and bowling.  He was an expert Bridge player and many other card games.  Barb and Ed played countless hours of Bridge together with their dear friends.  Within his family, the strategy at Hearts was always “When possible, get Ed,” at which we seldom succeeded.  He was a former board member of the Division of Child and Family Services.  In his spare time, he found peace and beauty in his garden. Throughout his life, Ed was known as a peace-maker.  He had many life-long friendships that were very important to him, who described him as good and true.  He enjoyed attending events associated with his work, family and children’s schools.  He loved John Wayne Westerns.  He knew the lyrics to thousands of songs which we learned and sang together as a family, his baritone heard above all.  He also knew many poems by heart.

Ed was a devoted family man.  Family meant everything to him.  He instilled the value of a good education and the importance of family in us all.  He is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Barbara Stoven Coray, who now lives in Layton; his children Kevin (Kathleen Loehr, Alexandria, VA), Steven (Bountiful, UT), Carolyn (David Hartzell, Clarence Center, NY), Patricia (Boyd Keys, St. Louis, MO), and David (Washington, DC); eight grandchildren and one great grandson.  He is also survived by his brother Claude “Deuce” Coray (Los Angeles, CA), and preceded in death by brothers Howard, Alan, Reed, and Ralph “Que” Coray, and his sister Margaret Coray Thrasher.

His family would like to thank all of his friends and extended family members who have supported Ed and Barbara throughout the years, especially Lezli and John Gunn.

Graveside services will be held Friday, January 2, 2015 at 2:00 pm at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, his family asks that you keep Ed in your thoughts forever and let his spirit hold you as you hug your loved ones tightly.