Wednesday, September 18, 2024
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Today we are here to celebrate the life of Ray Darowski, an extraordinary man, who’s legacy lives on in the beautiful family that He and his wife Susan created.
Raymond, Ray Darowski, better known as Ray D, was a great guy who everyone loved. He was the best husband, father, father-in-law, brother, uncle, and, most importantly, Pop-Pop. He grew up in Jersey City, later moved to the Jersey Shore, and lived in Texas before making Bradshaw Lane, in Fort Salonga his home.
Susan and Ray were the ultimate high school sweethearts, having been married for an impressive 50 years! Their love story kicked off at a school dance, where Ray and his friend flipped a coin to decide who would ask Susan to dance. Ray lost the toss but didn’t let that stop him; and he ended up winning the girl!
Although Ray loved sports—especially basketball, football, and golf—he quickly realized he was very outnumbered by his wife, Susan, and their three daughters, Heather, Jill, and Jacqueline. So, he graciously compromised by trading in his football game highlights for soap opera marathons, and became an avid follower of every season of The Bachelor.
As if that wasn’t enough, he couldn’t be happier, when life got even more interesting as he was further outnumbered by seven granddaughters: Brooke, Courtney, Megan, Riley, Quinn, Allison, and Kensley, who would constantly quiz him on all of the Disney Princesses names and attempt to give him the latest hairstyles.
Ray was overjoyed when his daughters married their husbands, Dennis, Brian, and Rich, and when his only grandson, Ryan, was born. Finally, he could sneak in a few sports or superhero movies without a tiara-wearing interruption!
Ray always knew how to have fun! Whether it was taking a ride to Atlantic City or Cape Cod, or a family trip to Monmouth Park racetrack, he embraced every moment.
His grandchildren loved nothing more than to play “how to draw” videos with him, which usually ended up with Ray drawing stick figures that semi-resembled a cat.
Game nights around the kitchen table were legendary, featuring all-night marathons of board games, or card games like Racko and Sleeping Queens. His grandkids would be in awe as he taught them important life lessons like… “What do you do with a 15 showing in blackjack, hit or stay”.
Ray’s career at Colgate Palmolive, and as VP of Finance at Estée Lauder, gave him the opportunity to travel the world, taking him to Africa, Asia, and Europe… We’d often hear stories about his trips to Switzerland with Susan, and how much fun they had.
And when his international colleagues and friends traveled to New York, he loved to host them, proudly introducing them to his family and entertaining them in his home.
In retirement, Ray embraced life's simple pleasures. He treasured moments with loved ones and looked forward to meeting his friends at Changing Times, which was his favorite spot with his buddies.
Although Ray was heartbroken after losing Susan four months ago, Pop-Pop was a master of keeping spirits high for everyone, all while juggling his own health issues. He had a full repertoire of Dad Jokes that were so bad they were good. He’d whip up his famous PANcakes (as he lovingly called them) for his grandkids, he’d make them crepes, or order a truck load of chocolate bars from Amazon, that the delivery guy couldn’t even fit in the door. He even became a slime expert, the kids favorite, and bought them all the trendiest slimes like Slimes by Grace, or Dope Slime, and whatever else the grandkids saw on tiktok.
When he moved in with Heather and Dennis, he made friends with the Physical Therapists that came to get him back in shape, and spent his summer days lounging by the pool, playing lifeguard for his eight grandkids, soaking up the sun, and for those of you that knew him, Ray would get a very impressive tan, which the girls are very jealous they didn’t inherit.
Ray took such amazing care of his family and they love him so much! He was the best Dad and Pop-Pop in the world.
We know that Susan and Ray are now together again, which brings us all peace. We are focusing on the lifetime of happiness we shared and are incredibly grateful for the wonderful family they built.
People always admired how Susan and Ray raised their family- that is the legacy that we will always carry on for them, to make them proud, as we know they with us now and are smiling down on us all now.
