Raymond Paul Pokorny was born May 4, 1947 in Oregon City Oregon to Clifton Frank and Kathleen Annie Pokorny. He moved with his parents and younger sister Patricia to Culver, Oregon in 1952.

Graduating Culver High School in 1965, Ray was involved in many activities including basketball, baseball, track and field, drama, 4H and the FFA. He briefly attended COCC in Bend before being drafted into the Navy and eventually visited 17 countries. During his time in Vietnam, he became a culinary specialist 2nd class, and later he transferred to a vessel patrolling the Mediterranean.

In 1972, he married Helen Isgro in Tigard and began an architecture program through PSU. Two years later, they moved to Eugene, OR. Ray earned a bachelor's degree of interior architecture from the University of Oregon in 1977 and shortly after their daughter Emily was born, the family moved to Portland. Their son Frank arrived in 1980.

Ray and Helen divorced in 1998.

Ray became a pioneer in Oregon's solar industry in 1979, when he started Solar Interior Design, specializing in high performance window shades. In the early 2000s he obtained one of the first STL licenses in the state allowing him to install and maintain solar heating and cooling systems. He loved being on a roof and even convinced Frank to spend a decade in the industry. He was legendary for his creative solutions to design and installation problems. If you started a conversation with Ray about solar, you'd better not have any other plans.

Ray had a magnetic personality and exuded joy. He didn't know a stranger and loved talking to people and making them laugh. He loved to laugh and was quite successful at cracking himself up. He was as well known for his storytelling tangents as he was for his real world "shortcuts" that more often than not turned out to be the scenic route.

Ray and his partner Annette Lange Hildebrand moved to Madras in 2012.

He had a passion for music, listening to it and making it. He learned to play the piano at a young age and could pick up any instrument and play something you'd recognize. He played everything; trumpet, drums, banjo, guitar...even the accordion. He and Annette formed a group called the Old Roadies and played in local spots around Madras.

And if there was a dance floor, he was on it. Twirling around with anyone who would dance with him. He was an avid photographer in his younger days, taking many photos with a film camera. He loved to draw and sketch.

He was active in his local community throughout his life. Baking cinnamon rolls for church fundraisers, coaching his kids basketball and track teams. In later years, acting and volunteering for the High Desert Theater Guild, coaching track and field at his alma mater, Culver High School, organizing the music for the Madras Saturday Market. In 2023 he was awarded the Senior Citizen of the Year award by the Madras Chamber of Commerce.

Ray was preceded in death by his parents, and is survived by his partner Annette, his children Emily and Frank, his sister Patricia Rudisill and his niece Amanda Halver. In lieu of flowers we ask that you remember Ray as you partake in some of his favorite activities, get a pastry at your local bakery, listen to some live music, get outside and enjoy a ray of sunshine.

A service will be held at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 341 SW J St., Madras, OR at 11:00am on Friday, April 24, 2026.