|
Ray Ewing, 62, of Hunnington Beach, CA, died February 15, 2010.
Ray was born May 22, 1947, in Bremerton, WA. He spent most of his life as a school teacher in Marysville, WA. He was a Meadowdale High School and UW graduate.
Ray was preceded in death by his father, Phil James Ewing; mother, May Bernice Ewing; and brother, Ronald Lee Ewing.
A memorial to honor his life was held March 14, 2010, at Marysville Pilchuck High School.
(information from legacy.com)
*****************
The following article was published in the The Everett Herald, April 25, 2014. It is a wonderful tribute to Ray. These are excerpts. If you wish to view the article in its entirety, go to: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20140425/SPORTS01/140429372/1182/The-Marysville-School-District-dedicates-Memorial-Field-on-Saturday
“The Marysville School District dedicates Memorial Field on Saturday” By David Krueger, Herald Writer
Ray Ewing just wanted to give his team a place to play. In the summer of 1979, the Marysville Pilchuck High School baseball coach recruited a group of athletes to build a baseball field at the 8-year-old high school.
"It was his vision. It wouldn't have happened without him," said Gary Ray, who played baseball for Ewing in the early 1980s. "Nobody said he had to do it. It was just (Ewing) saying, 'You know what? It's a beautiful summer. Why wouldn't we do it?'"
After Ewing died in 2010, Ray began lobbying for his old coach to be recognized for his efforts. Prompted by Ray, the Marysville School District formed a committee and, in early 2013, selected three individuals to be honored at a field-dedication ceremony. That ceremony, delayed a year by rain, is scheduled to take place Saturday before the 1 p.m. varsity baseball game between Marysville Pilchuck and Marysville Getchell. The field will be christened "Memorial Field" so that deserving players and coaches can be honored for years to come, said Greg Erickson, the Marysville School District athletic director.
Plaques will be unveiled Saturday honoring the first three of those individuals: the two coaches who built the field nearly 35 years ago, and an MP athlete who had his time on the field cut tragically short. These are their stories.
Ray Ewing: Creating a home field advantage
Ewing began his high school coaching career in 1973 at Pilchuck High School. At the time, the Chargers had to drive across town to use the field at Marysville High School, now Totem Middle School. Ewing wanted to give his team a field of its own. Gary Ray doesn't have fond memories of the area on the Pilchuck campus where the field was built.
"It was a bog," Ray said. Ray and several others helped Ewing put in drainage tiles, grass, a crushed-brick warning track and an electronic scoreboard.
"His vision was to bring our home-field advantage to our high school so we didn't have to get in our cars and bus down to downtown Marysville," Ray said.
After graduating from Meadowdale High School in 1965, Ewing attended the University of Washington on a baseball scholarship. A left-handed pitcher, he moved on to the professional ranks, reaching as high as Class AAA in the Minnesota Twins' system before retiring in 1972. His professional career gave him legitimacy and clout with high school players.
"Ray Ewing, especially, he really wanted to teach you about the game and how to play the game and be a student of the game," said Paul Dockendorf, one of Ewing's former players and now MP's athletic coordinator. "He played pro ball, so he knew the ins and outs of baseball."
From 1983-86, Ewing led the Tomahawks to three state tournaments in four years. They played in the Class 4A state semifinals in 1983. Ewing was "an intense guy (who) could be fun, but he knew how to get his point across," Ray said. Once, following a victory in which Ewing felt his team didn't give a good effort, the players got a surprise at practice.
"There was a sheet in the locker room that said what the drills were for the day. The only thing that was on the board was two words: foul poles," Ray said. "Running in the outfield from foul pole to foul pole, that wasn't a good thing. It was 75 degrees and he ran us like crazy. He wasn't happy that we played them so softly.
"We beat them the next day 14-2." Ray said Ewing demanded just one thing: Each player's best. "He just taught all of us that internal lesson that if you played your best, there's nothing to be ashamed about," Ray said.
Ewing was hired at Pilchuck in 1973 and continued to coach baseball after Pilchuck and Marysville high schools consolidated in 1976. He retired in 2002. He had left coaching by then, but that didn't keep him from being a fixture in the Marysville baseball — and sports — community.
"He was a faculty member after coaching and he went to everything," Erickson said. "Every game of everything."
Ewing died on Feb. 15, 2010. His memorial, held a month later at Marysville Pilchuck High School, was packed.
© 2015 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA 
|
Madelon Siedlecki (Lyons)
What can I say? Ray was my first love and I was deeply saddened when I heard of his death. He was a great guy and full of life. We had soooooo much fun with our friends, and my teenage years are full of fond memories in part, because of him. Ray was an important part of Meadowdale H.S. He was a very good athlete and played in many sports. He gave us a lot to cheer about watching our H.S. games. I was told that Ray had become a Christian before he died. This fills my heart with happiness, as I know we'll see each other again....
Madelon Siedlecki Lyons.....
Mike Buchmeier (Class Of '66)
Still fresh in my mind is the away game we played in Wenatchee in 1964. We boarded a booster train and made the trip across Stevens Pass, and won the game 27-19 as I recall. I was only a Sophomore then but I remember the magnificent performance ofRay Ewing on that night. I was saddened to hear that Ray died in Huntington Beach. That's less than 10 miles from my home. If I had known he was here I would have made contact.
Mike
Stan Stebing ('66)
Ray was my neighbor in high school. It was too cool to be a sophmore and to have Ray as a neighbor and a friend. I have a notebook with newspaper clippings of MHS sports and of course Ray was in most of them.
Ray had his cars (his dad was a salesman at Bill Pierre Ford) and I remember him wrecking a beautiful Falcon Sprint about a week after he got it. He also had about a 1930 Ford Model A for a while and it was fun riding with him in it. I also remember him painting his 1956 Chevy with spray cans of black paint to cover the green two tone. He was painting it in his front yard and I remember his dad coming out mad as heck that Ray was painting the car.
During his freshmen year at the UW he took me to his fraternity house and to a street dance on Greek Row. Of course I was in awe.
The last time I saw Ray was at Campbell's drive-in in the 1990's. We greeted each other as long lost friends. He had his Corvette and I had my 1940 Chevy. He was teaching at Marysville Pilchuck and living at Lake Goodwin.
When I saw Ray's obituary in the paper I was saddened by his passing. Goodbye old friend.