Charles "Ray" Raymond Glaze

Charles Raymond Glaze, “Ray” died at home from Merkel cell cancer on February 8 th , 2020 surrounded by his family. He was born August 1 st , 1934 in Baltimore, Maryland to William LeRoy Glaze and Helena Gertrude Phelan Glaze. He was predeceased in death by his parents and his older brothers; Bill, Bobby, Jack, Gorman, Richard and his little sister Helene. He is survived by his loving wife Cicely Bennett Glaze, 7 Children; Caren, Ray Jr. (Brenda), Cyndi, Kelly, Corky, Bob (Kathy), Cristin (Chris) and grandsonn Mark
who was raised by Papa and Cis and 10 additional grandchildren; Ray III (Michelle), Corey, Catherine (Tanner), Cydney (Skyler), Morgan (Trevor), Tisha, Mitch(Heather), Michael, Taylar and Rylee as well as 13 great grand Children; Peyton, Rhyan, Eli, Asher, JJ, Leighton, Corbett, Kyla, Emma, Aivyn, Kaylee, Ava
and Maci and Brothers- in- law Mark L Bennett Jr (Charlanne) and Stephen Bennett.

Ray graduated from Patterson Park High School in Maryland in 1954 where he excelled in sports. He was all-state in football, wrestling and lacrosse. He attended Wake Forest on a football scholarship but didn’t like it, so he hitch-hiked home and took post graduate classes at PPHS. He was no longer eligible to play football, so he became a cheerleader along with 3 other young men and 8 girls who were also the first NFL cheerleaders for the Baltimore Colts. He also helped coach the wrestling team.

Ray flew to Kansas in the late summer of 1954 to play football for Kansas State. He was a linebacker and a fullback. Even as one of the smallest players on the team he was almost always on the field. He was Captain of the wrestling team his senior year. He graduated from KSU in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education. He earned the Graduate degree of Master of Science in 1968 from Emporia State. After his KSU graduation he returned to Baltimore to teach at his alma mater where he
coached lacrosse, his favorite sport and taught P.E. However, he longed for the classroom.

Wanamaker Grade School reached out to him. They needed a basketball coach and Ray had learned basketball techniques at KSU from the legendary Coach Tex Winter. We drove back to Kansas in our car with faulty brakes and bad tires away from the bay and family to what he called “treeless Kansas.” Ray always said that 8 th grade at Wanamaker was his favorite job. His way of coaching his 12 seventh and eighth graders was phenomenal. After starting the season with scores of 52-6 the team came back to
win the league title. When Wanamaker changed from K-8 to K-6 he had to move on. He taught for a short period in Tecumseh then went to Seaman High School. From there he went to Topeka High School to teach P.E. and coach.

On July 4 th in 1975, Ray and Dick Patterson applied for positions that had opened at Washburn Rural High School. Ray spent the rest of his teaching days at WRHS teaching biology, anatomy & physiology while coaching football and wrestling. Ron Bowen and Ray were part of a great coaching staff. They had 3 state championships and one 2 nd place finish to show for it. Ray coached numerous state champion wrestlers as well.

Ken Berry Softball and Baseball Complex (SWYAA) had his attention for over 30 years as his off-season job. In 2009, Ken Berry honored him for his commitment and hard work by naming a baseball field after him.

Ray was always ready to play anything from jacks, pitching pennies, croquet, poker, badminton or tree golf. If you think of those as children’s games, as you wouldn’t want to play with Ray. He ALWAYS expected to win, and he usually did, losing was not part of his make-up.

In his retirement years Ray took up golf with a vengeance, playing regularly with his partner Chuck Dultmeier, Charlie Golder and his brothers as well as Dennis Rogers & Haig Sarkesian. Push-ups were a regular sight at Berkshire.

Papa Glaze was a loving husband, wonderful father, amazing grandfather, a good friend and a tireless worker. He loved to garden, growing green beans, potatoes, corn, onions and tomatoes for anyone who wanted any. He also kept his wife’s Iris garden looking beautiful.

Ray enjoyed building his own home which he populated with trees to help avert the dearth of trees in Kansas. Ray’s daughter Corky (Colleen) was paralyzed from a stroke and she needed a place to swim. Ray began digging a swimming pool by hand in order to help her with her rehabilitation. We were all fortunate enough to enjoy it with her. Ray was Corky’s champion and strongest supporter.

Ray was a very modest person and detested being the center of attention. He could not bear the thought of a funeral and made Cis promise not to have one. We plan to have a family memorial for him when the Iris bloom in the spring.

He appreciated all the kids, friends, family and the marching band that visited him in his final days. Quite a few made him laugh and quite a few made him cry. It was incredible for the Glaze family to witness the effect that Ray had on the many people that he interacted with throughout his life.

The family would like to request in lieu of flowers, that any donations be made to super-penn.com (the 5 year old son of a former Washburn Rural student who is fighting cancer in Austin, Texas) or Midland Hospice, 200 SW Frazier Circle, Topeka, Kansas 66606 or a WRHS scholarship fund which is in the process of being created.

We give many thanks to the St. Francis Hospital staff at the PCU and the 6 th floor staff for their wonderful care of Ray. We can’t say enough good things about the care he got from Midland Hospice. OUTSTANDING!!