January 24, 2025 – Raymond Paul Benoit was born on April 17,1936 to Ione (Hanlon) and David Benoit in Yakima, Washington. Ray was an amazing father, grandfather (RayRay), uncle, and friend. He is survived by his daughters, Michelle (Kelvin Mar) Benoit and Nicole (Ryan) Castleberry, his grandchildren, Kayla Benoit, Maxwell Mar, and Tyler Mar, his sisters-in-law, Darline Benoit (wife of deceased brother, Bill) and Sandra Benoit (wife of deceased brother, Bob), his nephews and nieces, Marie Anne (Mike) Stager, Ron (Lisa) Benoit, Joanne (Andy) Svendsen, Mark (Amy Cericola) Benoit, Mike (Marisa) Benoit, Paul Benoit, several great nieces and nephews, his dear friends and pen pals, Helen, Christine and Eddie, and many friends.

Ray loved teaching, traveling, and art-all forms. His strong Catholic faith was always with him. He also enjoyed watching sports; stayed true to his alma mater, Gonzaga and was torn between the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks. His true passion though was being a doting RayRay! As much as possible, you would find him cheering on Kayla in soccer and Women’s Flag Football (St. Louis Logos), Max (black belt) and Tyler (brown belt) in karate, Max (Life) and Tyler (1st class) in Scouts, and always encouraging them to appreciate reading and art. He will always be their biggest fan!

Ray lived in St. Louis from 1965 – 2018, where he would swing by Brother Mel’s sculpture studio just to see his friend’s progress, frequent the Art Museum and art studios, attend operas, or pop into one of his favorite antique stores. He moved to Seattle in 2018 where he got to live by the water, see the Olympic Mountain range, and take day trips east of the mountains.

He found his love in literature early on, reading books through the night in the basement bedroom of their house and then walked up the hill to receive the morning sun. He proceeded to Gonzaga where he received his bachelor’s degree. He obtained his PhD in English from the University of Oregon where he was an Honorary Woodrow Wilson Fellow; a NDEA Fellow and earned his PhD in English in 1965. During his last year at UofO, he was able to travel Europe and fell more in love with the art, literature, music, and the cultures that had had read about.  He followed his religious compass and became professor at St. Louis University where he taught for 49 years. He was granted a Fulbright Lecturer in American Literature at Ruhr-Universitat, Germany in 1971; he was Chairman of the Department of English SLU from 1970-1980; an Honorary Phi Beta Kappa member; the Dorothy McBride Orthwein Distinguished Professor of English from 2001 – 2003; and was the author of numerous publications on American writers, their works, and wrote a book on British and American Romanticism.

A Celebration of Life Luncheon will be held Saturday, March 1st at 1:00pm at Halftime Pub and Grill, 2129 Parkway Dr, St. Peters, MO 63376. Please RSVP via email [email protected] or FB for headcount.

Funeral Mass will be celebrated Friday, March 7th at 10:00am at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 4210 SW Genesee St., West Seattle, WA 98116. There will be a reception in the church hall immediately following mass. Please join us.

In lieu of flowers, please call a local school and pay towards students’ lunch balances.