Horace Ray Cavender, Loudon

Horace Ray Cavender, 79 years of age, was a resident of Loudon, Tennessee. He passed away peacefully on Sunday, September 25, 2022, at Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.

He is survived by daughters Kimberly Ray Cavender of Knoxville Tennessee, Christine Elizabeth Anguiano (Ray) of Nashville Tennessee, Grandson – Cassius Ray Anquiano, and ex-wife Sylvia Ann Cavender of San Ramon, California.
Other loving family members include:
Sisters:
Patricia W. Steimer (Gary) of Farragut, TN
Brenda W. Thompson of Nashville, TN
Charlene W. Buhler (Alex) of Lebanon, TN
Katherine (Kitty) W. Copeland of Kingston, TN
Bina Marie Kirby (Leonard) of Harriman, TN
As well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

He was born in Columbia, Tennessee on November 28, 1942 – son of Staff Sgt. Ernest Cavender and Mary Christine Rieves Cavender. Ernest died on active duty with the Army Air Corps in 1943. Preceded in death by his parents James Thomas and Christine Rieves Woods of (Midtown) Harriman, TN, as well as his brother J. T. Woods Jr. of Kingston Tennessee.

Ray carried many titles through life: Son, Brother, Husband, Father, Nephew, Grandfather, and FRIEND.
He answered to names like Ray, Bubba, Horace, and Dude through his Roane County High School years (Kingston) and as a graduate of Tennessee Technological Institute (Cookeville). Oh yes, also “Fat Thunder” to his Indian Princesses “Little Sunbeam” and “Little Snowflake” (later- as a devoted Dad).

Jobs went from a business degree in Tennessee to his first job in a factory for prefabricated houses then at Lad & Dad Slacks company in Georgia. It was in Ashburn Ga. that he was offered a position with Levi Strauss and returned to Knoxville to run the factory in the Cherry Hill area. Little Rock, Arkansas followed, with a return to Knoxville before being asked to join the corporate level of Levi Strauss in San Francisco, California. He held the position of Director of Manufacturing in the Docker’s Division at the time of his retirement in 1997.

As a man of many interests and talents, he enjoyed cooking, travel, art, photography, old cars and trucks, football, golf, tennis, and gardening. He proudly contributed to community groups like Jaycees and SCORE, as well as served as a board member for Michael Dunn Center. He met, shared, and was gifted with many friends along the way, and he valued every opportunity to share as much time and as many stories as possible. He took time, in the last few years, to prepare for this event and we choose to forward his message: “To the people, I leave behind, I hope I have done GOOD. I hope I have done RIGHT. When I have not done GOOD or RIGHT, I hope I accepted my Responsibility. I enjoyed the RIDE – and ALL of YOU.” Horace Ray Cavender

Visitation with the Family will be at Kyker Funeral Home in Kingston, TN on Saturday, October 8, 2022, at 2:00 pm EST. A celebration of Life to follow. On October 9, 2022, a graveside service will be held at 3:00 pm CST in Rose Hill Cemetery in Columbia, Tennessee under the support of Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to the Michael Dunn Center, Support for Individuals Living with Disabilities and Challenges in East Tennessee. www.michaeldunncenter.org

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