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Centennial Remembrance – 1934 Line of Duty Death – Captain Loren ‘Bud’ Ray

WSP Media Release Cover

December 16, 2020

Loren G. “Bud” Ray
Commissioned – November 26, 1928
End of Watch – December 16, 1934

Washington State Highway Patrol Captain Loren G. “Bud” Ray died on Sunday, December 16, 1934, in a tragic accident at his government office building in Seattle. The dedicated leader of WSP’s District 1 was working alone on the weekend and while trying to gain entrance to a locked area for critical information on a hit and run case, he tried to enter through a window adjacent to a light well and fell to his death. He was 34 years old.

Captain Ray was the sixth member of the WSP organization to lose his life in the line of duty in the agency’s first century of service. He was a native Washingtonian from a Satsop family of farmers and blacksmiths. His humble beginnings did not stop him from moving quickly through the ranks of the Patrol where he achieved the rank of Captain after only five years, taking command of the most populous district in the state stretching from Seattle to the Canadian border. His death was a tough blow to the state, the agency, and the individuals under his command. We pause today to remember his service and sacrifice.

BIO

Captain Loren G. (Bud) Ray was born on March 29, 1901, in Satsop, Washington, to Charles E. Ray and Iva Smith. A family of farmers and blacksmiths, Ray and his brother, Ellis, attended schools in the Centralia/Chehalis area. Ray had a second brother, Charles, who died in infancy.

As an adult, Ray worked as a bookkeeper at the railroad in Pacific County. He joined the Washington State Patrol in the first decade of its existence when it was still known as the Washington State Highway Patrol and was commissioned on November 26, 1928, under the command of the agency’s first Chief, William Cole. Just five years later, Ray became the Captain of District 1, which at the time extended from King County to the Canadian border.

END OF WATCH

Captain Ray died on Sunday, December 16, 1934, in a tragic accident at his government office building in Seattle.

The dedicated leader of WSP’s District 1 was working alone on the weekend and urgently needed information after receiving a telephone message regarding the license number of an automobile involved in a hit-and-run investigation. Frustrated that the locks to the auto license division had been recently changed, he tried every key available and even tried picking the lock before seeking entry through an open window over an adjacent light shaft. Investigators surmised he lost his footing and fell some 15 feet to his death.

The Washington State Patrol remembers, honors, and holds Captain Bud Ray, and the other 29 individuals who have given their last full measure of devotion to our state and society, in our hearts and memories. A man of energy and commitment, he died trying his best to meet the urgent needs of his profession so that justice could be served and safety maintained. We remember him with tribute and grace. We always will.

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