The Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) announced that it has created a memorial fund in honor of their former executive director, Ron Ray, who passed away over the weekend.

Ray was CREF’s executive director from 1997-2007. The fund will support the collision students and schools that Ray supported throughout his career.

Prior to working for CREF, Ray worked at Porsche Cars NA and American Honda. After his tenure at CREF, he continued his career at I-CAR for the education segment and then as an instructor at Lincoln Tech-Nashville prior to retirement.

“Ron was instrumental in making CREF the great organization it is today,” said Clark Plucinski, executive director of CREF. “Given his passion for collision education, Ron would be gratified to know that so many of the schools and students he cared about are being assisted in his memory. He will be missed by so many in the industry, and I was honored to call him a colleague and a friend.”

Gwen Ray, Ron’s wife, reflected on Ron’s achievements: “Ron had a passion for what he did, whether it was working for an OEM or teaching. He wanted to make a difference; that is what was most important to him. Over the eight years, he taught at Lincoln Tech, he had received several letters from students and that was his reward. He loved what he did – period.”

Industry members interested in making a contribution to the Ron Ray Memorial Fund can visit CollisionEducationFoundation.org and select “donate” or click here and use the dropdown box to select “Ron Ray Memorial Fund.”

CREF is also encouraging industry members to submit stories and photos of Ray from throughout his career to [email protected]. They will post the stories and pictures on their website.