Billy Ray Ground Jr.

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Billy Ray Ground Jr.

<p>Billy Ray Ground Jr. (Ray) went to his Eternal Home in Heaven on January 31, 2025. He was born on November 13, 1949, in Dallas, Texas, to parents&nbsp;Billy Ray (Bill) and Merle Ground. He grew up on Wheatland Road in South&nbsp;Dallas with his younger brother Randy and many cousins. Years later, sitting around a campfire or dinner table, they would laugh until they cried when retelling&nbsp;innocent but mischievous stories of their childhood together.</p><p><br></p><p>Ray graduated from Carter High School in 1968. He played on the football team and was voted most handsome in his class. After graduating from Abilene Christian University with a Bachelor of Science, he returned home to work for a bank in downtown Dallas. Eventually, he traded the suit and tie for a toolbelt and started building houses&nbsp;with his uncle, which led to him starting his own business called Sunray&nbsp;Homes. Ray built houses all over South Dallas, including the perfect home&nbsp;for his family in Cedar Hill in 1980. His family went to church together, took&nbsp;vacations every summer in his big blue van, fished nearly every body of&nbsp;water in Texas and beyond, and created their own beautiful memories.</p><p><br></p><p>Taking a break from home building, Ray went to work for Glitch Field&nbsp;Services in 1988 as a project manager traveling to refineries all over the&nbsp;United States and the United Kingdom.</p><p><br></p><p>After retiring, Ray fully embraced his adventurous spirit. He traveled to&nbsp;Thailand to rebuild after the tsunami and made three trips to Africa where&nbsp;he built church buildings, shared the gospel, and demonstrated a servant’s&nbsp;heart. He hiked and camped all over Colorado and Texas with friends,&nbsp;church groups, and family. From 2007 to 2014, he climbed 18 of the 54&nbsp;mountains in Colorado that have elevations over 14,000 feet. He loved&nbsp;fishing, hiking, camping, and sharing these passions with everyone he&nbsp;knew.</p><p><br></p><p>Papaw Ray was a devoted grandfather to five grandchildren and was&nbsp;present for every birth and birthday. He loved taking them on trips to zoos,&nbsp;museums, and parks, and he especially loved taking them camping and fishing.&nbsp;&nbsp;He loved reading and watching movies. He had s great appreciation for music, which he passed&nbsp;on to his kids and grandchildren.</p><p><br></p><p>If you knew Ray, then you know he was a Christian and a member of the&nbsp;Church of Christ. He was always ready to share his faith with anyone he&nbsp;met. In 2016, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He used his&nbsp;illness to remind us to always put our faith in God and He will take care of&nbsp;us.</p><p><br></p><p>Ray is preceded in death by his mother Merle Ground. He is survived by&nbsp;his father, Bill Ground; brother, Randy Ground and wife Sharon; daughter,&nbsp;Tiffany Walker and husband Cory, and their daughters Cora and Lola;&nbsp;daughter Amanda Garner and husband Jay, and their children, Layton,&nbsp;Emmett, and Selah; and his son, Zachary Ground and his wife, Samantha&nbsp;Davis.</p><p><br></p><p>Visitation at 10:00am</p><p>Service at 11:30am</p><p>Friday, February 7, 2025</p><p>Western Hills Church of Christ</p><p>8800 Chapin Road</p><p>Fort Worth, Texas 76116</p><p><br></p>
November 13, 1949 - January 31, 202511/13/194901/31/2025
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Billy Ray Ground Jr.
Billy Ray Ground Jr.
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Anonymous

February 06, 2025

The planting of 1 memorial tree in the honor of Billy Ray Ground Jr. has been arranged by Anonymous. Plant a tree
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