Raymond "Ray" Doyle Wilson

Raymond "Ray" Doyle Wilson, 71, passed away on May 16, 2025, surrounded by his family.

Ray was born on August 1, 1953, to Donna Bell (Larson) Lewis in Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated from Des Moines Technical High School and then soon after joined the U.S. Marine Corps and became part of the Crash Fire Rescue. He met the love of his life, Phyllis, and they were married on New Year’s Eve 1977. Their oldest son, Carl, was born later that year, and not long after, they moved to California. Ray became an ASE Certified Master Mechanic. He met his best friend, Lou Gatto, in California, and they spent a lot of time together building cars and trucks, and fishing off the coast of Baja, Mexico. Their youngest son, Jerry, was born in 1993, and not long after, they moved back to Iowa.

Ray loved to work on cars and he spent countless hours in his garage teaching his boys, whether they wanted to be there or not. Ray was a hard worker and instilled those values in his boys. He had the old-school Marine mentality and always said there is no such thing as "can’t". He never gave up. He had a massive heart attack in 1999, and a few more after that but never gave up. He was told he would have to lose weight to be put on the heart transplant list, so that is what he did; he lost 129 lbs. His heart was weak so while waiting for a new heart he had to be put on an LVAD machine to pump his heart for him, and he waited. He got the call from Mayo Clinic early the morning of April 24, 2018, that they had a match. Ray had a successful heart and kidney transplant that evening. The Wilson family will forever be grateful for Derek White and his family for the additional 7 years of memories here on Earth. If not for Derek’s selfless act of becoming an organ donor, Ray would not have been able to make more memories or meet his 4 youngest grandchildren.

Ray will always be remembered for his raunchy sense of humor and his witty comebacks.
He cherished his wife, children, and grandchildren.

He loved to talk to everyone and enjoyed his job greeting people at the entrance of Sam’s Club all the way up until his passing.

He enjoyed all things cars, racing, fishing, and sports. Ray was an avid LA Dodgers and Oakland Raiders fan and was always in the stands cheering on his children and grandchildren in their sporting events.

Ray is survived by his wife of 47 years, Phyllis (Adams) Wilson; his sons, Carl (Shannon) Wilson and Jerry (Lauren) Wilson; his grandchildren, Cali, AJ, Bode, Emma, Emery, Lucille, and Roman; his donor family, Dale and Sue White and AJ, Courtney, Lennon, Lincoln, and Blake Knutson; his sister-in-law, Cathy Adams; his best friend, Lou Gatto; his aunts, Judy Ames, Ruth Ann Kiley, and Emma Kay Deaton; his cousins, David (Melissa) Stewart, Kevin (Debbie) Barnes, Rhonda Craven, Debbie (Leonard) Bussanmas, Sherry Varvle, and Ruthie Mylenbusch.

Ray is preceded in death by his mother, Donna Bell Lewis; his stepfather, Russell Lewis; mother-in-law, Rose Margaret Adams; brother-in-law, Bill Adams; heart and kidney donor, Derek White; grandmother, Ruth Turnquist; grandmother-in-law, Katherine Cahal; uncles, Raymond Larson and Bobby Deaton; and his aunt, Sherry Larson.

Family will be having a Celebration of Life at a later date.

On behalf of the Wilson and White family, we encourage you to be an Organ Donor.

Memorial contributions may be directed to Ray’s wife, Phyllis.

Condolences may be expressed online at www.Hamiltonsfuneralhome.com.

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