Ray Hunt served Orangeville Minor Hockey for more then 35 years.
Ray was a volunteer for many years and sat on the board of directors and served in many different roles such as division director and as president of the association at least three times.
Ray worked at Nortel by day and was at the arena at night.
Ray worked closely with many people over the years at the Ontario Minor Hockey Association and new volunteers every year who sat on the board of Orangeville Minor Hockey.
Ray worked in many different areas of the administration such as scheduling officials, timekeepers, recruiting coaches and trainers and working with team managers.
Over the years Ray was known to stay and work in the hockey office all night. The arena staff would lock the doors when their shift was done leaving Ray alone to write schedules, drink coffee and smoke the occasional cigarette. When we attended meetings it was expected executive members would get their schedules and other documents with coffee stains and cigarette burns. In most of the years Ray was involved we didn't have computers so all the schedules were written by hand not just for the house league but also working with all the other centres to put the rep schedules together. Even when we had computers in the hockey office Ray continued to do a lot of the day to day jobs by hand. When you visited his office he could look at his large hand written spread sheet that covered his desk and could tell you where any of our teams were.
At times Ray looked like he could get into an argument with anyone but deep down he was a teddy bear. Ray had a heart of gold and did so much to ensure kids had a place to play hockey. After Ray retired from Nortel he was entrenched as (CAO) Chief Administrative Officer and continued to do all the jobs he did as a member of the board. Ray made everyone's job easier and kept the directors and other executives informed on every detail.
Ray Hunt touched the lives of thousands of families and watched kids grow up playing hockey, leave town to go to work or school and see them return home. Ray set the standard of what being a volunteer is all about. Ray has been recognized by the OMHA for his service to minor hockey. In 2003, Ray was awarded the Paul Harris award by the Rotary Club of Orangeville for his dedication to our community. In 2007 Ray was inducted into the Orangeville Sports Hall of Fame as a builder. In 2010, Ray was nominated and unanimously made a lifetime member of Orangeville Minor Hockey. Ray passed away on Friday, February 3rd, 2017 at the age of 72.
We all know that Gordie Howe is known as "Mr.Hockey". In Orangeville Ray Hunt will always be known as "Mr Hockey".