{"id":42344,"date":"2026-07-13T11:26:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T16:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=42344"},"modified":"2026-07-13T11:26:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T16:26:34","slug":"ray-gene-van-matre-89-of-parkersburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/42344-ray-gene-van-matre-89-of-parkersburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Ray Gene Van Matre (89) of Parkersburg"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Ray Gene Van Matre, age 89, of Parkersburg, Illinois, left to be with the Lord at 11:16 PM on Friday, July 10, 2026, at Haven on the River in Grayville, Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>The family asks any who can to come and celebrate Ray\u2019s life. A visitation will be held on Wednesday, July 15 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM with a funeral following at the Meyer Funeral Home in Olney, Illinois. Burial will follow at Greenhill Cemetery south of Noble, Illinois with military rites. In loving memory of Ray, memorials may be made to the family. The obituary may be viewed and condolences left at www.meyerfh.com.<\/p>\n<p>Ray was born on October 14, 1936, in Noble, Illinois, the son of Luther and Alice (Poff) Van Matre. He married his love (Sarah) Jane Slover on December 30th , 1954, at the Lawrenceville, Illinois courthouse, and she survives. Ray was a trucker, oil and gas worker by profession, but was a jack-of-all trades and man of many hats. Ray loved his country, serving in the United States Army in the Korean War. He immensely enjoyed the outdoors, and was an avid fisherman, spending hours casting with his longtime friend Bob Perry. He raised chickens and rabbits in his spare time. He enjoyed watching Westerns and was a Stock Car race driver in the younger years of his life. He loved his family dearly and worked hard to make every child and grandchild feel special and connected. He was deeply loved and will be sorely missed.<\/p>\n<p>Ray is survived by:<\/p>\n<p>Wife of 71 years \u2013Sarah Jane Van Matre of Parkersburg, Illinois<br \/>\nChildren \u2013 Allen Jackson \u201cAJ\u201d (Connie) Van Matre of Parkersburg, Illinois<br \/>\nRobert (Karen) Van Matre of Grayville, Illinois<br \/>\nSusan Marie Van Matre of Olney, Illinois<br \/>\nNancy Jane (Jason) Miller of West Salem, Illinois<br \/>\nMichelle Van Matre (partner Tony Persinger) of Flora, Illinois<br \/>\nDaughter-in-law \u2013 Donna Kay Van Matre of Olney, Illinois<br \/>\nBrother \u2013 Don (Donna) Van Matre of Olney, Illinois<\/p>\n<p>19 Grandchildren<br \/>\n29 Great Grandchildren<br \/>\n3 Great-great Grandchildren<br \/>\nSeveral nieces and nephews<\/p>\n<p>Ray was preceded in death by his parents, his in-laws Mildred and Lawrence Slover, sons Phillip Van Matre and Mike Van Matre, granddaughters Lisa Marie Van Matre and Devan Nicole Van Matre, great grandson Alexander Ray Graham, brothers Bill Van Matre and Dale Van Matre, sisters Doris Perry and Erma Robinson.<\/p>\n<p>There will be lunch after the service at the Parkersburg Community Building for anyone wishing to join the family, Covered Dishes would be appreciated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ray Gene Van Matre, age 89, of Parkersburg, Illinois, left to be with the Lord at 11:16 PM on Friday, July 10, 2026, at Haven on the River in Grayville, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":42345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - 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