Chowchilla Kidnapped Bus Driver Dies

Chowchilla Memorial

Ed Ray, 91, died almost 36 years after he assisted twenty six children to safety from a quarry in Livermore, kidnapped by James and Richard Schoenfield and Fred Woods. The kidnap occurred when Ray stopped on a country road near Chowchilla, California for a disabled vehicle. That event propelled him into the limelight which he refused.

Sure, I knew him—or at least I knew of him. Chowchilla was a small town when I lived there when Ed Ray was younger, years before this incident. Students in town walked to school. Country kids rode the bus. At school, at church, at parades and fairs, around town, everybody knew everybody. All by sight. Most by name. Some by reputation. A few by character.

Goodbye Mr. Ray. May your humble character shine through the ages.

Here are great photos from the Huffington Post.