Raymond "Rayditty" Reece Jr

Raymond Paul Reece Jr "Rayditty" Was born in Grand Rapids MI On September 24th 1950 to Hazel Reece and Raymond Reece Sr. at Butterworth Hospital on Michigan St.He was the first born to his parents,he had four other siblings Allen,Tammy,Marvin and Micheal. Although he was born here in grand rapids his family would later move to Pontiac Michigan where he was raised for most of life. Our dad worked at General Motors for a short period of time, he soon decided it was time to leave Pontiac because he had experienced a lot of trauma and bad memories there. He wanted to see the world so he did just that, he went to germany,las vegas, washington dc and maryland where he lived for a few years before returning back to grand rapids where he met his beloved wife and our mother Laura. When he and our mom met they knew they were destined to be together although they had faced many trials and tribulations being a biracial couple in the 70's. Together he and our mom conquered everything together as one, they didn't allow anything to stop them from being who they were as a couple. Our dad loved going to the fish ladder with our mom. That is where they spent a lot of their time walking and talking and fishing and he enjoyed watching the fisherman catching fish and the boats. Dad and Mom married on May 22nd 1978 and made it official while they were expecting their first born child together, who they welcomed on December 9th 1978 Brandie, a healthy baby girl. while learning to be parents dad was overjoyed with being a father. He had vowed to be the best dad he could be and he did just that. On April 13th of 1980 they welcomed their first born son Raymond the 3rd into the world, dad wanted a son to carry on the name "raymond" so he could carry on the legacy of their name. Our parents settled into life as a family of four at that time, until they later found out they would be expecting another addition to the family. On August 14th of 1984 Candie came into the world and they felt that their family was complete with three children. Dad was a big family man at that point and enjoyed each and everyone of us children so much, he would take us to the lake often and to splash city and amusement parks and also long drives. Some of our best memories of dad are listening to music. He loved music so much that it was a big thing in our household, always jamming to the oldies also in the car. Dad would take us to the drive-in movies in his big station wagon that we had at the time, us kids would camp out in the back watching the movies on the big screens while mom and dad sat in the front enjoying each other's company. so as life went on they eventually had another child, they welcomed jordan into our family on october 15th 1997. He was a miracle baby. Although it was later on in life that they had another child, dad was truly happy to be a dad again.He got to really enjoy Jordan because we were much older at that time. 1997 was a big year for dad, he was once a new dad all over again and Grandpa. Our sister Brandie had a beautiful little girl. Her name is Kayla. Eventually all of us had children and moved out the house to begin our own individual lives as adults and started our own families. But every single holiday we would all be together under one roof cooking and eating and laughing and sharing and making so many great memories. The greatest memories of our Dad. He was a big time jokester who always loved to laugh often and make everyone smile, he made us feel that everything was always alright and that we were safe with him as our dad and our protector. He was a people person, so many people were drawn to him because of who he was. He was caring, compassionate and he would listen to anyone who was going through something and always give them the best advice. He enjoyed walking often everywhere no matter if it were rain or shine snow or sleet. He would walk all over grand rapids just to meet different people from all walks of life and talk to them about whatever. Dad was Unity. He brought everyone together always and still does even though he is no longer here on this physical earth with us. We grew up as a really tight knit family. It was always us together. we would go to friends and families houses for bbqs and laughter and so much more. He was the glue that kept our family together. Dad was a strong and firm believer in our lord jesus christ he couldn't stress that enough to us while growing up and talking to us about the bible and the ten commandments. always on easter sunday mom would cook easter dinner and we would all sit and watch the movie the ten commandments together faithfully. Our dad was special to us in so many ways for so many reasons. If it weren't for him we wouldn't be who we are today. he made us into strong loving and big hearted people. Dad was our rock, our universe, our everything. He was there for us kids no matter what the circumstance was, he always stood by our sides. He loved our mom so much they were two peas in a pod they were soulmates . They could sit and talk for hours about anything and everything. That is why they have been married for 45 years because the things that they went through in life that were meant to break them only made them so much stronger they defied the odds that were against them and overcame all the obstacles in front of them. In 2016 dad had a stroke which caused his dementia and the last seven years we have rallied around him to show him so much love and support because that is what we do as family. Mom has been by his side even though she has a lot of health issues herself, she was his full time caregiver caring for his every needs no matter what because she married him in sickness and health until death do them part. That is where we are today on june 19th. Dad walked out the house and was trying to find his way back home and he collapsed and was found unresponsive by a pateron who called 911 and was taken to the hospital. He sustained trauma and injuries and was in the hospital for a little over a month before coming home on hospice and spending the rest of his days at home with his beloved wife laura our mother who took care of him around the clock until his finest hour that he left us and went to be with our lord and savior on August 5th. Everyone who loved him was right by his side to let him know how much he was loved for the great man he was. we knew he was tired but he wasn't ready to leave us and let us go he stayed for as long as he could and fought until the very end until we told him that it was okay to go that we would be okay and that mom would be taken care of and he went peacefully on the morning of august 5th at home where he wanted to be. He leaves behind his beloved wife of 45 years Laura reece his children Brandie (lorenzo reece-pellot), Raymond the 3rd, Candie (Cornell Reece-Whitehead) Jordan ( Odessa Reese) Grand Children Kayla,Xavier,Serenity,Dakoda,Little Raymond the 4th,Nevaeh,Jonathan,Jeremiah,Jayden and many more grandchildren and great grandchildren. His siblings Marvin (Gwen Reece) Micheal Reece of Pontiac Michigan. He was Preceded in death by his parents Hazel and Raymond Reece his sister Tammy Reece and his Brother Allen Reece.