Passing of a Progpower Attendee

[Wandrail]

Wow...sad and bizarre. Being from Elizabethtown myself, I know the store even though I hadn't been there in many years. Never talked to the guy but the store was one of the only decent places to buy CD's if you lived in E-town or Hardin Co. At least he spent his life immersed in what he loved.

 

[rockme53]

Yes there were long lines and lots of stories. Troy placed "eddie" with Ray, and several people put music with Ray. Seems fair since he turned a lot of on to new stuff all the time. Fitting it was given back to him.
If there was any good thing that happened yesterday or today at the funeral, it was hearing stoies of Ray as a youth. For my part it broadened my knowledge of him and gave me a greater appreciation of the man. At the same time it saddened me because he won't be around to laugh about the stories.
Because of Ray and of course my best friend Troy I was exposed to prog. I don't mean the music i mean the commraderie and genuine love of the metal life. It's because of guys like this and Glen and his bunch of madmen that we have a place that is ours. It's ours!!!!!!!!!
It's venues like this and people like Ray, Troy and Glen who honestly live it daily, who make guys like me raise our fists in the air, throw up the horns sing, like DIO: LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL !!!!!

 

[oldrocknroller00]

Raymond was a great friend of mine,my name is Matt Flesch.
and this is hard for me to come to terms with his passing.Raymond and I went to the first prog power together.it seems like it was yesterday, then we went back home and he told all his customers at his store about what a great weekend we had and how well Glenn ran the show.on the way home all we could talk about was how we will never miss a prog power.

we have made this journey every year,and this year will be a very different trip.as he was our ring leader,lol .

i want to thank everyone that has posted a message on here.it truely shows how prog power has become a big family of metal brothers and sisters.

our group of prog power and other concert trips were me,Gary,James,Mickey,Rob,Joey,John

we will be there rocking harder than ever ,while Raymond holds the front row for us at that big concert in the sky,

see you all in a few months,
Matt (oldrocknroller00)

 

[oldrocknroller00]

David my friend i forgot to ad you to this list of road trippers

 

[BABS]

we have made this journey every year,and this year will be a very different trip.as he was our ring leader,lol .

I know, I keep trying to reconcile in my head of how am I gonna not watch the crowd for a glimpse of him because that is always how I ran into him each year was in between sets in the auditorium. When it gets closer to this year's Progpower send me a message and we'll try get a bunch of us together and have a little toast in his honor.

My friend who attended the services yesterday said that his family was all wearing his Iron Maiden shirts. Only goes to show me how accepting they were of Ray's life and loving him as is - a lesson I wish that most of the world would learn, but never seems to.

 

[oldrocknroller00]

WOW, I read the article...the poor guy died in his own record store and when they found him lying there, he was still holding a cd in his hand! A shame but very ironic! I wonder what cd he was holding? I'm sure we would all wonder that ....out of morbid curiousity...I guess. REST IN PEACE METAL BROTHER!

hey wherewolf, the cd he was holding was lucinda williams

we tralved the road together for over 11 yrs going to shows all over

he lived for prog power,and i can say that everybody that he talked too or just said hi to in passing was a friend
rock on and see everyone in a few months

 

[oldrocknroller00]

I know, I keep trying to reconcile in my head of how am I gonna not watch the crowd for a glimpse of him because that is always how I ran into him each year was in between sets in the auditorium. When it gets closer to this year's Progpower send me a message and we'll try get a bunch of us together and have a little toast in his honor.

My friend who attended the services yesterday said that his family was all wearing his Iron Maiden shirts. Only goes to show me how accepting they were of Ray's life and loving him as is - a lesson I wish that most of the world would learn, but never seems to.

the group of guys that he went to concerts with, we all had our best maiden shirts
he would have wanted that way.

it just blows me away all the postings on here
anyway my name is matt and ill be there with a heavy heart and my bud watching from above

 

[MetalRose]

Oh no! That's horrible. I recall meeting him at Chicago Power fest. I would see him at quite a few fests. He always had a warm smile and a warm hug for everyone. It always so touching hearing him say, "It's so good to see you, I was hoping you'd be here."

May he Rest in Metal Peace.

He was always one of the people I looked for at ProgPower, it's going to be hard to not see him there.

-Metal

 

[MEGALOUD]

Ray would stop by my table a lot at the fest, didn't get to talk to him much... he's just on to a new adventure on the other side, I'm sure it's even better than this one we're all in at present, and I have no doubts there is great music there too ; )

 

[oldrocknroller00]

Ray would stop by my table a lot at the fest, didn't get to talk to him much... he's just on to a new adventure on the other side, I'm sure it's even better than this one we're all in at present, and I have no doubts there is great music there too ; )

Lance,its cool to see that you remember Raymond.he wanted to go to your festival but didnt get his store closed in time. i know first hand how big of a fan he was of youres.i know he had everything you ever sang on and most of the cds on your label.

raymond me and a few other buds went up and down interstates to get to a show.we would dog on each other all in fun.i knew him for 14yrs but the last 11 or12 as verry good friends.

thanks for your support,my name is Matt and we have talked over the last few years.
matt

 

[Dragongrrrl]

Very sad news. I definitely remember the face, although I don't think there was ever more than the smile and "hello" in passing. He always struck me as a very nice guy - glad to see all these posts confirming that. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. RIP.

 

[LunaTEKKE]

From what I've heard, he died from a heart attack, and it makes no sense to me. Although he was
54, the guy ran 7 miles every morning and evening and always looked
like he was in ridiculously good health for his age.

We have a lot of control over health issues by choosing to eat right, exercise, and avoid smoking. Unfortunately, genetics and environment also have an impact. While I didn't know Ray, perhaps his healthy lifestyle bought him a few extra years of being a friend, businessman, and ambassador for metal. R.I.P.

Metalprof's suggestion is terrific - say hi to at least 1 new person this year. Just look at AMBR's poster and pick a person. They might change your life, as it seems Ray has done for many.

RIP

Agree - I'm in for next year.

 

[Ray'sbabysister]

Hi my name is Stephanie I am Raymond Dowdell's baby sister. I wanted to thank all of you for the nice things you posted about my brother. I met several people at the funeral home. It comforted me as well as my our mom and other siblings to hear all the nice things you had to share with us. He was the best brother anyone could ask for. I am so glad many of you got to meet him. I will miss him dearly.

 

[BABS]

Hi Stephanie, I'm glad you came to the board as I had been debating if I should copy and paste all these posts via email and have my friend Roger pass these on to your family. We are all very sorry for your loss and we're gonna miss him too!

 

[mloanna]

R.I.P.

 

[DFD260]

I first met Raymond in 2003. My Army National Guard unit was doing our annual training at Fort Knox. My friend, Jeff, and I were cruising around Radcliff on our off-duty time. We are both metal fans and spotted Avatar records. So we stopped in and was amazed by his store. We went back a few more times during that two week period and talked with Raymond (bought some cds too). His store was the kind I wish we had where I live. A few years later I was looking for a Rob Rock cd to help get ready for PPUSA IX. I thought of Avatar and gave Raymond a call. He had the cd and I ordered more from him later on. I always enjoyed him keeping me updated on music and hearing his concert stories. I'm glad I ran into him at PPUSA IX and got to talk some more. I was saddened when he told me that he was closing the store. I'm glad he had a job that he loved. Raymond was a very nice guy and will be missed by lots of people. His family will be in our prayers.