Bill Ray (politician)

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Bill C. Ray Sr. (April 6, 1922 – September 9, 2013) was an American businessman, writer, and politician in Alaska. He served in the Alaska Legislature for 22 years—six in the House (1964–1970) and sixteen in the Senate (1970–1986)—as a Democrat representing Juneau.

Born in Anaconda, Montana, to Eli and Marchetta Ray, he had Serbian ancestry. His family moved between Montana, Idaho, and Oregon before settling in Juneau in 1938. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, becoming a chief radioman and serving in Adak and Honolulu.

After the war, Ray worked as a bartender at his family’s PaMaRay Club, and also as a card dealer, longshoreman, and in commercial fishing. He later ran his own businesses in Juneau, including a bar, a liquor store, and a charter boat company.

Governor William A. Egan appointed him to the Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, where he later served as chairman. He was elected to the Alaska House in 1964 and to the Alaska Senate in 1970.

The Bill Ray Center, a government building used by the legislature, is named after him. He moved to Sequim, Washington in 2001 and lived in retirement there. In 2002, he wrote the memoir Liquor, Legislation & Laughter: the story of a S.O.B. (Sweet Old Bill); he also wrote The Hacker's Bible, about golf. Ray died of a heart attack in Seattle, Washington, in 2013 at age 91.