I first met Ray when I was 19, when we were at Liverpool Art School together in the late 1980’s and when he met my eldest sister, Lindsay at our Degree Show in London in 1990,they started going out together Ray became an integral part of our family. 
Ray had the biggest,most beautiful smile & the a cheekiest of laughs. He loved having nicknames & rarely called me Becky, it was always Beanie & as I write I can hear him say in his familiar Oldham drawl “Fancy a brew Beanie?”  
When I was studying at the RCA in 1990, I remember going away for a few weeks on a drawing trip &  Ray was flat hunting, so stayed in my dank basement flat on Finborough Road, while I was away. When I came back the flat was immaculate, I’m embarrassed to say the only time the kitchen floor was washed, when Ray stayed there. 
After Ray graduated from his MA in Kingston , he lived in Clapham & I was living with my brother, Nick down the road in Balham, Ray used to rock up in his yellow Mini & buzz on the door & say “Beanie fancy a drive ?”. For me it was a magical mystery tour, not knowing where we’d end up… zipping round the streets of Portobello Road, Soho, Regents Park. Windows open & music blaring, I felt like I was in a 1960’s film, so carefree & fun, seeing a London I had only seen in films. Sometimes Ray wanted to post his CV through to art directors doors, other times just a random jaunt because we had nothing better to do. Ray could put his hand to anything, he had an innate knowledge, and he was happy to share it with us, be it drawing, cooking, DIY, and cars… Considering I’m the least car person, my memories of Ray seem to revolve round motors. He was brave enough to teach me to drive ( only a few lessons though, don’t blame him ) and he came with me when I bought my first car, he asked all the right questions & looked at the engine & all the stuff I didn’t know, or in fact cared about. He insisted that he’d be the chauffeur on my wedding day, his sporty black VW Corrado  which he had decorated with a classic V shape white ribbon. He drove me & my husband Jonny to the hospital when I was in labour with our first son.  
Bizarrely, whenever we use the screen wash, we always quote Rays mantra: “ a clean windscreen is a safe windscreen”.
Ray was happy to help & would do anything for you & the most generous person I know.
The more successful Ray became, the more he was worked away, but would come back to Wales & recharge his batteries, you’d always find him pottering in the garden or in the kitchen, creating delicious meals for Lindsay. He was such a family man, he loved Lindsay, Caspar & Sebastian and they loved him. 
Ray was such a huge part of our life, and like everyone else, I am struggling to comprehend it.
A memory I will cherish is New Year’s Eve 1999, watching fireworks from Battersea Bridge, with Jonny, Ray & Caspar. Ray knew a secret parking spot & of course he found the perfect location to view the display , away from the crowds. We heard Big Ben strike 12, watched in awe at the fireworks lighting up the midnight sky, all of us knowing that this was a special moment in time.
Ray, taken far too soon, a light has gone out of my life.
So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu .