Submitted by: Dan Rich

Ray A. Pickens

July 18, 1915 - Jan. 11, 1994

South Bend Tribune 1/12/1994

SOUTH BEND - Ray A. Pickens, 78, of Wilson Manor Drive, died at 6:10 a.m. Tuesday in his home of natural causes. Mr. Pickens retired in 1975 as a machinist from Bendix Corp. after 34 years of service. He was born July 18, 1915, in Fulton County, and lived in South Bend most of his life.

On April 20, 1941, in Twelve Mile, he married Marjorie M. Cress. She survives with a daughter, Wilma ``Susie'' Emerick of Brownsburg, Ind.; three sons, Earl, Donald and Gary, all of South Bend; 12 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and a sister, Dorothy Murray of Logansport, Ind. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Joyce Pickens, in 1949; a son, Harold, in 1992; and a grandson, Richard Pickens. He was a veteran of World War II and member of American Legion Post 284 and Fathers Auxiliary of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9820.

Memorial services will be at 10 a.m. Friday in Kaniewski Funeral Home. Cremation will take place. Graveside services and burial will be at 1 p.m. Friday in Twelve Mile Cemetery. There will be no visitation. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of St. Joseph County Inc.