Ray Paul Willie Black Bear Vasquez

Ray Paul Willie Black Bear Vasquez, age 40, passed away on March 20, 2019 in Midvale, Utah. He was born on December 4, 1978 in Murray, Utah as the second of 4 children.
During his childhood, Ray attended Midvale Elementary School, Midvale Middle School, and graduated in 1997 from Hillcrest High School. While in high school, Ray met Monica Medina and they had their beautiful baby boy Val Ray Vasquez. Val was the greatest thing to have happened during Ray’s life and was his pride and joy. Ray devoted all his time to raising Val and doing everything he could for him. Ray coached the basketball youth league in Midvale, which Val was a part of. He was insistent on Val playing all sports and wanted him to follow in his footsteps. They loved to play video games together, fishing, camping, and playing with their dog Trunks. Whenever things got rough, Ray always stayed positive.
Ray loved to go camping with his family, especially his cousins, at his grandparents’ cabin in Hanna, Utah. Together they would go fishing on the Duchesne River and would go deer hunting in the fall with their grandpa. He was an avid bowler and bought his own Philadelphia Eagles bowling ball. He would bowl with his family every Sunday at the local bowling alley. Ray was a longtime sports fan! He would watch every Eagles game, no matter where he was. He loved, lived, and dressed for his Eagles and L.A Lakers. To pass his time, Ray loved to play pool, play video games (Minecraft, Madden, Resident Evil were his favorite), watch movies, and read both Marvel and DC comic books. He loved to cook, bake, barbeque, and spend quality time with his family. We will miss him making his famous sticky rice for us. Every Sunday he would attend church with his mom and nephew, always making sure he had candy to give him throughout the service. Ray had a sweet tooth, he wouldn’t go anywhere without having pockets full of candy. He had a different favorite flavor of ice cream/popsicles every night and would text his family to guess what it was. Throughout his life, he lived to tease and scare his son, niece and nephews. He would wear his Michael Myers mask, turn all the power off in the house, and would chase them around. He would always be messing around, whether we were in church, a supermarket, doctors’ appointment, driving around, it didn’t matter. We will miss his signature “TA-HAAAAAAA” laugh, his sometimes shy demeanor, and his infectious smile (that he tried to hide so often). Ray was an amazing man who was very thoughtful, soft-hearted, caring, selfless, and always putting others before himself, even if it took from his own time. Ray would go to VASA with his niece Elizabeth and nephew Jayven and was always so encouraging, pushing them to their limit but also very competitive with them. If they added on 25 pounds, he would add on 50. After their workouts, he would thank them for going with him and always looking forward to the next gym session. Ray would knit hats and scarves for his family and knitted his nephew Adrian a 3 foot Minion. Ray liked to spend time with Adrian playing Pokemon, going to movies, and playing board games. Adrian’s favorite memory of Ray is his uncle chasing him through the grocery store trying to hit him with a loaf of bread. Ray also liked to go to the grocery store where his nephew Xavier works to page him, jokingly, to do various cleanups throughout the store.
Ray is survived by his parents Violanda and Matias, son Val, sisters Valentina and Violanda, niece Elizabeth (Jayven), nephews Xavier and Adrian, grandma Juanita, and many uncles, aunts, and cousins.
He is preceded in death by grandpas Cruz, William, Refugio, grandma Sarah, brother Matias, and uncle Antonio.
He will be so deeply missed by those who truly knew and loved him. It brings us comfort to know our brothers are together again and that they are waiting for us.
Family and friends, please reach out to the immediate family for service information.