Raymond Dean Hawton

November 2, 1937 - January 1, 2022

RAYMOND DEAN HAWTON November 2, 1937 – January 1, 2022 On January 1, 2022 Ray left his life here on Earth to join his family in Heaven. He was 84 wonderful, ornery, playful years old. Ray was quite a character and was well-known for responding to pretty much everything, “Piss on it!” We lovingly called him Walter, after Jeff Dunham’s ventriloquism puppet. Instead of waving when he saw us pull in the driveway, he flipped us off! And then he’d chuckle. Oddly enough, we looked forward to him flying the bird at us when we came home. He was born to Kenneth and Cora Hawton in 1937 in Peoria, IL and was their only child (he must have been ornery from the get-go so our grandparents decided enough of that!) He attended Limestone High School where he was a stud baseball pitcher. After he graduated he went to work at Keystone Steel and Wire Company, where he worked for 37 years. He married Sharon Zukas and had 3 children; Scott (Shawn) Hawton, Patricia Hawton Fox (John Burke) and Stephen (Kathie) Hawton. At the time of his passing he had 11 grandchildren ; Kenny Hawton, Kyanna Hawton, Ana Hawton, Aaron Hawton, Dylan Cota-Robles, Hayden Cota-Robles, Hannah Fox, Logan Fox, Garrett Hawton, Hayley Hawton & Eli Hawton. One great grandchild also survives him; the cutest and most entertaining Jax Steele. After divorce, Ray married Betty Kreiter and he was “Dad” to her grown children Henry Kreiter, and Linda Helms. The lovely Miss Betty preceded him in death in 2000. Ray then met his final life partner, Ruby Bryan and spent the last 14 years of his life with her. They wintered in Tucson, AZ at his daughter’s house until the summer of 2021 when they permanently moved to Tucson. Ray loved baseball, fishing, and virtual traveling with his atlas. He paid close attention to the weather forecast and would report it to the family faithfully. Ray will be dearly missed and forever loved. Pop, I am so thankful for the time that I had with you and I will cherish the memories you placed in my heart. I’ll love you forever and a day……