Raymond E. Walton
December 21, 1933 ~ July 20, 2007
Walton, Ray. Raymond Eugene Walton was born December 21, 1933, in Winfield, Kansas. His parents soon moved to Wichita and were divorced when he was very young. They were very poor and his Mother had to go on “relief” so that he could have one hot meal a day at school. After his Mother remarried, he learned the retail furniture business from his step-father. After graduating from Wichita East High in 1952 he briefly attended Wichita University before joining the Marine Corps. He spent two of his three years active service in Japan with the Far East Command. In 1955 he resumed classes at Wichita University, met and courted Winona Steele whom he married in 1956. He held a variety of sales jobs, usually exceeding all previous sales records. At one time he was the youngest Real Estate broker in the state of Kansas. His daughter, Valarie, was born in 1958 and the family moved to southern California in 1965 where he joined General Telephone Directory Company. In 1972 the family returned to Wichita and founded Pennypower Shopping News. After selling Pennypower in 1980 Ray devoted himself to the development of Flint Oak Ranch in eastern Kansas. As Rays dream of maintaining “good old-fashioned hunting” for future generations matured Flint Oak become known as Americas Premier Hunting Resort. After years of declining health, Ray sold Flint Oak in January of 2007 to assure that it could continue to serve its members and their guests. Ray Walton passed away peacefully on July 20, 2007. He leaves behind his wife, Winona, of Wichita, KS; his daughter, Valarie Smiley, of Laguna Niguel, CA, and two grandchildren, Jennifer and Jeremy Smiley, also of Laguna Niguel, plus numerous friends, business associates, and former employees. He will be deeply missed. Funeral services will be held Friday, July 27, at 10 am at Eastminster Presbyterian Church, 1958 N. Webb Road, Wichita, KS. He will lie in state at Downing Lahey Mortuary, 6555 East Central, commencing Tuesday evening. Visitations with the family will be held at the mortuary Wednesday, July 25 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm and at the church Friday morning from 9:00 to 9:30 am. Interment will be private. Ray supported numerous charities through out his life and family encourages you to make a donation to a memorial of your choice in his memory.
Visitation with the family 6:00 ~ 8:00 P.M., Wednesday, July 25, Downing Lahey Mortuary East.
View current weather.
Memories Timeline
Guestbook
Sign the Guestbook, Light a Candle
Please accept our deepest condolences for your family’s loss.
Dear Winona and Valerie, I am so sorry for your lost. I first met Ray in 1969 When I started with GTE Yellow Pages in the Long Beach Division. Although I did not work for him directly, I had the opportunity to work with him on a couple of Las Vegas Canvass where with Ray at the helm we set records that will probably never be broken. As you both remember we all worked together at Penny Power for a little over a year. Couldn’t we write a book on the happenings of each Friday night? I’m very pleased that I was invited to the reunion at Oak Flint a couple of years ago, Ray and a handfull of us ‘old-timers’ got to relive some of our most memorable times – most exagerated as you can imagine. I live with my wife Connie in Puyallup Washington now, close to our five childred and nine grand kids. We would love to hear from you. I will make a donation to my Rotary Club on August 17th in Ray’s name. He was a real ‘driver’ and was a living example of ‘success’.
Dear Winona and Valerie, We are saddened by Ray’s passing and even more so by the fact that we cannot be there for you! Our daughter-in-law has had a very rough time and complications after the child birth just 7 days ago. Our beautiful grandchild is finally out of the hospital and doing well. Now, we just have to get ‘momma’ well and we are her only family here as Fabi is from Brazil. What can we say about Ray? There won’t be another ‘Ray’! He had such an impact on our lives. We admired Ray’s business ‘sense’, straightforwardness, loyalty and his kind heart. Yes, through all the ‘gruffness’ there was a very kind person and I’m glad we were around long enough to see it. Valerie helped in that department by making you grandparents! (Thank you Valerie!) He taught us so much. He’s the reason for our success in the horse business. We (the whole Meyer family) cherish the memories of our 10 years in Kansas at Flint Oak Ranch. Our children are always telling stories about that time in their life. And we are so grateful for our visit a couple of years ago. We will never forget the times we shared! He will be missed – God Bless Him! And Winona, you were his ‘ROCK’! Always by his side and we admired you for your calm demeanor no matter what was happening! Take care, we love you!
Tribute to Raymond E. Walton From Marce Brewer, President of Tour Butler County, Inc. When our organization was contacted by Senator Peggy Palmer, Chairman of the Cultural Resources Committee for the Kansas Legislature, to organize a four county tour. I immediately wanted them to experience the great Hunting Preserve, Flint Oak at Fall River, Ks. The tour was to enlighten the legislators of the many tourist attractions in the southern part of the state. I contacted Mr. Walton, who was on vacation in California. He returned my calls and helped us with this part of the tour. The legislators( Senators and Representatives) wanted to know the needs of all the communities they visited as well as their attractions. Mr. Walton and his wife, Winona, graciously joined us for dinner and brought in leaders from the area to voice concerns of this community. Elk County is a small county in which he wanted to make a difference.The Flint Oak Hunting Preserve gave jobs to many in the area. There is a concern for water in most homes and there were other issues he voiced with the legislators. It was evident he wasn’t only concerned about his business but what was happening around him.He wanted to make life better for the residents and address the concerns of this small county. Mr. Walton was a pleasure to work with during the creation of the Legislators tour.He made an impression on us that he is a very caring person. We, the Tour Butler County, Inc. Organization, send our deepest sympathy to the Walton family.
As you know, Winona, we in many ways raised our two children at Flint Oak. Destin shot his first pheasant there, and many years later proposed to his wife on Center Lake. Sporting clays was the first sport in which he could legitimately beat his dad, and oh did he love it (me too)! Paige used to fish by the lodge and named each one according to the alphabet so she could keep count – even got to ‘Zachary’ one time! Flint Oak was where they first learned what an ‘honor bar’ is, and the lesson took. Good things can come from bad situations. I got to know Ray more intimately during his first hospital stay, and we’ve been close friends ever since. We will both miss him, and we wish God’s richest blessings on you, Val and the kids. Gayle and Cy
WINONA AND VALARIE:WE ARE SADDENED BY THE DEATH OF RAYMOND. I, MORE THAN JOE, HAVE KNOWN HIM THE BIGGEST PART OF MY LIFE. HE WAS ‘ONERY’ WHEN WE WERE NEIGHBORS, GROWING–ME TRYING TO TEACH HIM TO DANCE (HE WAS ON MY FEET), HIM PLAYING TRICKS ON ME ALOT. ALOT OF GOOD MEMORIES. HIS MOTHER, GLADYS, I WAS CRAZY ABOUT. I WOULD OF TRADED MY OWN MOM FOR HER. I LOVED HER DEARLY. CURTIS WAS A GOOD MAN TOO. WINONA-I AM SO GLAD NOW THAT E RAN INTO YOU TWO, ON OUR ANNIVERSARY AT LEARS IN AUSUSTA. VALERIE–YOU WERE ALWAYS THE PRETTIEST LITTLE GIRL–YOU WERE BORN THE SAME TIME OUR SON, BRAD WAS. ONE THING—HE REALLY DONE ALOT W/HIS LIFE. BETWEEN PENNY POWER, AND FLINT OAKS, HE HAD A BUSY AND PRODUCTIVE LIFE. YOU BOTH HAVE OUR SYMPATHY. WE WOULD BE AT HIS FUNERAL, BUT WILL BE IN MICHGAN AT THAT TIME.