Ray Gifford Statler
Obituaries
Daily Sentinal page 6A - January 27, 2022
Ray Statler
January 19, 1947 - January 24, 2022
Ray Gifford Statler passed away Monday, January 24,
2022. He was 75.
He was born January 19, 1947, to Thurman and Goldie
Statler in Cape Girardeau, MO. His family moved to
Colorado and he graduated from Arvada High in 1965.
He married Janet Avery on December 15, 1966.
Ray and Janet had a son, Bob Statler (Tobi), of Fruita,
and a daughter, Gail Jones (John), of Taylor TX. He had
two grandchildren, Miranda and Jake, and four greatgrandchildren, Avery, Claire, Elliot and Carter.
Ray served in the Air Force (1965-1969) as a Sargent
and spent 13 months in Korea. He moved his family to
Rifle in 1978, and shortly after opened Ray’s Auto Body
which he owned for 13 years. He was a proud small
business owner, but his real passion was building cars
from the ground up. He built numerous street rods and
car shows are where you would find he and Janet. Ray
liked to fish, jeep and side-by-side, but it was always the
street rod and car show that kept his interest. In 2011
Ray and Janet moved to Grand Junction, closer to more
car shows.
Preceding Ray in death are his parents, Thurman and
Goldie Statler.
Survivors include sister, Pansy; wife, Janet; son, Bob;
daughter, Gail; grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Services will be at Veterans Memorial Cemetery on
February 3, at 1:00.
In lieu of flowers, go cruising while listening to the
Beach Boys
