Raymond "Ray" Crilly

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Raymond ‘Ray’ Charles Crilly was born August 22, 1950, in Dunlap, Iowa, to Wayne ‘Bob’ and Lucille (Thompson) Crilly. Ray attended St. Joseph Grade School and graduated with the class of 1969 from Dunlap Community High School. In his early years, Ray had many jobs while growing up. His dad, Bob, owned the Standard Tankwagon Service in Dunlap. When Ray was little, he would often ride along for the deliveries. When he was older, he helped when the hoses needed to be pulled at the homes of customers. He also worked for Genevieve Greenwood delivering milk to homes in town. He mowed lawns before Bernard Hanson hired him to help at his gas station. During the summer Ray enjoyed playing on the town baseball team that was organized by Kenny Dwyer who was also the coach.

Ray married Connie and to this union, three children were born: Craig, Karis, and Corey.

He had an auto body business and did auto body work in Dunlap and Schleswig. He then ran the Dow City Insurance Agency, then took on an adventure up north when he bought Elbow Lake Lodge near Cranberry Portage, Manitoba.

Ray was united in marriage to Debra ‘Deb’ on February 29, 1996. To this union, Ray was gifted with 3 bonus sons: Cory, Chris, and Curtis.

In his adult years, Ray was a rural mail carrier for 19 ½ years for the Dow City post office, from which he retired. After retirement, Ray and his wife Deb had a sandwich and pizza business in which kept them very busy as their sandwich and pizzas were sold all around the area in gas stations, grocery stores, and bars. Deb and Ray then opened Deb’s Deli in Dow City, where they continued with the sandwich and pizzas. The front end was a restaurant, and they also catered for many funerals, weddings, birthday parties, and all other occasions you could think of. They were very well known for the broasted chicken, potato salad, and Ray’s homemade “Big Critter.” Deb and Ray also ran the kitchen at the Dunlap livestock auction on auction days for 11 years, and everyone loved their hot beefs and roast beef dinners.

During the Christmas season, you could find Ray in the kitchen making all sorts of Christmas candy. His best and well-loved candy was his homemade peanut brittle, which was a recipe that came from his mom, and he was very proud of it when he finally mastered it. Ray also enjoyed working on cars, there are many that he finished and many that he was always going to finish “TOMORROW”. He also enjoyed fishing, ice fishing, and collecting “EVERYTHING”. His favorite and proudest moments, were anything that involved his grandchildren.

After a year of battling many illnesses, Ray passed away peacefully at his home, surrounded by loved ones, on October 10, 2026, at the age of 76 years, one month, and 18 days.

In addition to his parents, Ray was preceded in death by two sisters, Phyllis Schendel and Donna Crilly; and two sons, Corey Crilly and Cory Reed. He is survived by his wife, Deb Crilly; four sons, Craig (Amy) Crilly of Grimes, Iowa, Karis (Cara) Crilly of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Chris Reed of Jefferson, Iowa, and Curtis (Crystal) Reed of Omaha, Nebraska; daughter-in-law, Lori Reed of Omaha; grandchildren, Jazmine, Jonah, Jack, Nolan, Claire, Ali, Adam, Keelie, and Kenzlie; one great grandson, Leo; and many nieces, nephews, extended family members, and friends.