Biography: Victor Keith Ray was born February 10, 1919 at Bernie, Missouri, the son of the late Victor Hugo Ray and Myrtle Fonville Ray. His professional life was anchored to writing, journalism, publishing and liberal politics. He is survived by his wife, Pearl Downs; daughter, Lisa Katherine Ray (Michael); granddaughter, Sarah Lohnes (Brandon); a great-granddaughter, his namesake Victoria Antoinette Lohnes. He is also survived by step-children, Kurt Braun (Nanette) and their children, Rebecca and Martin, Kris Huffman (Mac) and their children Courtney Gasper (Brent) and Kelly Navin (Kevin) and their children Sophie and Miles. Ray graduated from Southeast Missouri State Teachers College (now SEMO) at Cape Girardeau. He served in the US Army Air Force during World War II. He began his writing career in California after the war with mystery stories that appeared in pulp detective story magazines, including Black Mask, Dime Detective and Street & Smith Detective. Victor Ray was a prize-winning editor of weekly and daily newspapers in Arkansas. His entry into the newspaper field began as the editor of the weekly Wynne Progress. Next was the daily Pine Bluff Commercial. The papers won top prizes in both the weekly and daily categories. After a stint as farm editor and general features writer for the Arkansas Gazette he became the editor and publisher of the Arkansas Union Labor Bulletin, which was the official publication of the Arkansas State AFL-CIO. He also headed a printing company, Times Union Printing Company. He was a founding member and for a time the executive director of the Central Arkansas Economic Opportunity Agency, the “War on Poverty” program that was established during the Johnson administration. He went to Washington DC as director of public affairs for the National Farmers Union. He wrote The Corporate Invasion of American Agriculture, a book that inspired the passage of laws in a dozen states limiting or prohibiting non-farm corporations in agriculture. Ray later became vice president for field services of the National Farmers Union in Denver, Colorado. He was the co-founder of the Land Stewardship Project, based in Minnesota, which began as the American Farm Project, the largest rural project sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its purpose was to develop young leaders who would encourage a dialogue in rural America concerning its problems in the context of the humanities. He retired from that position in 1981 and returned to Arkansas. In Arkansas, he became a full-time volunteer for the state humanities council and in 1985 received the Arkansas volunteer of the year award. In 1992, he received the National Farmers Union Award for Distinguished Service to American Agriculture. He founded the Arkansas Grantseekers Horizon, a publication to help nonprofit associations identify possible funding sources. He was also the organizer and facilitator of the Arkansas RLS Support Group, a self help support group for victims of the baffling sleep disorder known as Restless Legs Syndrome. There will be a memorial service at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, 2009 at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church. Donations may be made to the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org) in lieu of flowers. Arrangements by Ruebel Funeral Home, www.ruebelfuneralhome.com.