Longtime broadcast personality dies at 84The voice of the Ducks in the 1970s and ’80s, Wendy Ray was first to air the news of Steve Prefontaine’s death
BY WINSTON ROSSThe Register-GuardPublished: (Sunday, Aug 28, 2011 04:25AM) Today
Wendell “Wendy” Ray, longtime radio personality, former voice of Oregon Ducks sports and just about the closest thing Eugene had to a celebrity in the 1970s and ’80s, died Saturday at age 84.
Ray had been ill throughout the summer, according to his wife, Joyce. On Friday, he went into cardiac arrest during a doctor’s appointment for a CAT scan, she said. Doctors were able to restart his heart, “but he didn’t regain consciousness,” she said. “So we let him go.”
Ray, who was born and raised in Eugene, didn’t want a funeral. A memorial will be held later.