Tony Ray

Tony passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, at Gritman Medical Center.

Born in Tonasket, Washington, he and Monica went directly from high school to college, stopping only to get married. Yes, a lot of their friends and relatives said, “It will never last.” But it lasted a little over 57 years. He excelled in mathematics, earning a bachelors degree from Oregon State University and an M.S. from the University of Illinois. They then opened Cactus Computer & Internet in Moscow, Idaho, operating the multi-generation family business for 43 years.

Tony was not one to gather moss. In the course of his education, the family moved to Seattle Washington, Corvallis Oregon, and Urbana Illinois. A job at the University of Idaho landed them in Moscow. Following Tony’s example (in Illinois) Monica began selling software and hardware to the local universities. That venture’s success drew him away from creating agricultural programming at UI, to writing the software foundation of the business.

He is survived by a brother, Mike, and two sisters, Cecilia and Brenda, Monica and their four children, nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Frank, his wife, Barb, and their two children still live in Moscow. Lori and Ray and their two boys reside in Conrad, Montana. Andrea and James and their three girls are in Colorado or Texas, depending on the season. Their daughter, Eve, has two young children. Ed and Rui are the parents of two grade schoolers.