Raymond Lee "Ray" Grimes
1935 - 2023

Raymond Lee "Ray" Grimes of Denton, passed away peacefully on the night of November 29 in the house he built on his farm in Denton, surrounded by family with his wife of seventy years at his side. Ray was born to Robert and Mary "Babe" Grimes (nee Wells) on June 10, 1935 in their home near Old Denton Road between Carrollton and Lewisville. He attended R.L. Turner High School and completed Irving Barber College after his Uncle Woody Wells introduced him to the trade. Ray met Judith Mae Halli-burton, his future wife, by the popcorn stand at the Denton Road Drive in 1953, a story he enjoyed telling until his last days. Ray and Judy were married in the home of a Methodist preacher on June 22, 1953, for a cost of five dollars. Ray often judged it to be "the best five dollars I ever spent." The marriage endured over seventy years, until his death, and produced four children. Anyone who saw Ray and Judy together could tell they were very much in love, and they acted like young lovebirds who had just met at the drive-in from their first days of marriage to their last. Ray was well known to many in the community for his 54 years of work as a barber, first at Inwood Barber Shop, Preston Center, and Ray's Barber Shop in Farmer's Branch, and later in Lewisville. He opened "The Place" in Lewisville with his son Ron in 1972; it was later renamed Hair Menders. His daughter Connie and multiple grandchildren also joined him in the business, and Hair Menders is still open in Lewisville today. Ray provided a listening ear and a good yarn to the area's residents for decades, and on more than one occasion gave the first haircut to multiple generations of the same family. Likewise, he was a kind and generous boss and mentor to scores of north Texas barbers and stylists, many of whom now have shops of their own. Ray retired from Hair Menders in 2006 to spend more time on his farm and with his family. He loved farming and ranching, thoroughbreds, and the outdoors. Practically all who knew him agreed that he was the hardest working, strongest, and most vigorous man they had ever met. He could build a house from the ground up, heal a horse that a vet said wouldn't make it, and make the most stubborn mules and orneriest cows listen. He was lifetime undefeated in contests of will with obstinate livestock. Ray loved his family even more than he loved horses and farming. He was tough as leather, but he knew when and how to be tender. The lessons he taught his children and their children will last them a lifetime. Above all, Ray was a calm and steady presence through all of life's storms. He did not lose his head when others lost theirs, and his great capacity for kindness and generosity never wavered. Ray was preceded in death by his mother and father, brother Charlie Grimes, and sisters Dorothy "Millie" Harrison and Joyce Stone. He is survived by his loving wife, Judith Mae Grimes, brother, James Grimes, son Ron Grimes and daughter-in-law Marnie Grimes, daughter Janet Perone and son-in-law Nick Perone, daughter Linda Fontaine and son-in-law Stuart Bailey, daughter Connie Ellison and son-in-law Bob Ellison, fourteen grandchildren, and twenty-eight great-grandchildren. The visitation will be held Tuesday, December 5 at 10:00 am at Northview Baptist Church, 1981 Mill St. Lewisville. The celebration of life service will follow at 11:00 am, with a 1:00 pm graveside service and burial at Restland Cemetery in Dallas. Pastor Kenneth Wells, who received his first haircut from Ray, will deliver the service.