Raymond Joel Page

TEMPLETON--Raymond Joel Page, 78, died peacefully on December 12, 2021, 11 years after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. He was born in Gardner on July 10, 1943, a son of the late Kermit and Ellen (Nykanen) Page.. Ray lived most of his life in Templeton, he was a 1961 graduate of Narragansett Regional High School and 1963 graduate of Worcester Junior College. Ray spent his entire career selling insurance, retiring in 2005 from Liberty Mutual after 40 years of providing exceptional service to his customers. He truly cared about all of them. If you knew Ray, there’s a 100% chance that he told you to lock your doors, use your seat belt and drive safely. Ray loved baseball. He coached for 30 years--Little League, Babe Ruth, Middle School, and JV Baseball at Narragansett. He was an avid Red Sox fan, and enjoyed baseball in general. He was able to cite statistics and could win any baseball trivia contest. In his younger years, he enjoyed bowling and socializing at Gardner Ten Pins. He always looked forward to traveling and spending winter months in the Florida Keys with his wife, Judy. Ray devoted endless hours to genealogy and was a Mayflower descendant of Myles Standish and John and Priscilla Alden among other historical figures. He was very patriotic and one of his proudest accomplishments was instituting the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence in Templeton, held every July 4th. This is a tradition that continued for many years until 2020, when it was put on hold because of Covid. Ray served on several town committees in Templeton, he belonged to the Narragansett Historical Society and he was a proud member and supporter of Memorial Congregational Church in Baldwinville and their food pantry. In the past few years as his Parkinson’s progressed, Ray participated in Rock Steady Boxing, a movement program specifically for Parkinson’s patients, which created an unexpected and amazing support system and friends for both Ray and Judy. Ray will be missed by his wife of 33 years, Judy (Greeno) Page;a daughter Barbara (Page) Allard and her husband Brian of Gardner; a son Eric Page of Westminster; a step-son Jay Andrews of Templeton and step-daughter Jennifer (Andrews) Shenk and her husband Jay of Princeton, with whom he and Judy lived for the past 7 years. He leaves his grandchildren John-Paul Allard, Eric Page Jr., Erin Shenk, Adam Shenk, Abigail Shenk, Maxwell Shenk, Jane (Shenk) Macdonald, Jay Marshall Shenk and great grandchildren Nixie and Elka Macdonald. He also leaves a sister Susan Page and her life-partner Wallace Rice of Melbourne Beach, FL; a his brother William Page of Baldwinville and several nieces and nephews. Ray’s family would like to extend special thanks to, The French Connection--specifically his wonderful in-home health aides, Benny, Ivette, and Doreen. We were able to keep Ray at home for as long as we did thanks to them. We will remain forever grateful for their care. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any memorial donations be made to Rock Steady Boxing Central MA. Checks should be made out to “In Your Corner, Inc” (memo Rock Steady Boxing/Ray Page) and mailed to Christine Awdycki, 29 Woodstone Road, Northborough, MA 01532. Ray's funeral will be held on Saturday, December 18, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. in the Memorial Congregational Church, 16 Elm Street, Baldwinville, MA 01436. Burial will follow in the Pine Grove Cemetery, Patriots Road, (Rt 2A) Templeton, MA. Calling hours will be held on Friday, December 17, 2021 from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. in the Mack Family Funeral Homes, 105 Central Street, Gardner, MA 01440. To leave an online condolence please visit www.mackfamilyfh.com Kevin J. Mack and Walter C. Taylor funeral directors.