Ray was a great guy to do things that made it a better place to be.

As much as I have a good story and uplifting memory about every interaction I ever had with Ray, the following is where he lives for me.

Earlier this week I began conversations with a brilliant almost-30 relative I've just met concerning advising and supporting the scaling up of his successful sole-proprietorship into an up-and-coming start-up. In the process of our getting to know each other and revealing our commonalities, I shared a couple of anecdotes about Ray and suggested he look into TrainingMagNetwork and Vignettes, He diligently took to his research, and this is how it evolved:

"Curt. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and I am sorry for your loss." and he included the link to tbe Training Magazine in-memoriam of Ray. After reading it, I followed the included link to here, and I offer my reply to him.

"As synchronicity works, it was my unwitting eulogy to Ray that I shared with you the other day.

The article is a testament to his life's work, and is his reminder to us of the impact a dedicated and creative teacher can have on those with whom he shares his passion.

He Mentored and Inspired thousands.

What a noble legacy he has left for us to align to, embrace and apply so that the lives of others are positively impacted and their responses are of such deep appreciation and gratitude. 

I'm glad that you and I have met on the level where the spirit of Ray, in his version of deus-ex-machina, has appeared and validated our mutual vision and conversations of what we are up to in this life and why."

Thanks for your presence and the continuing support, Ray.

Ray was a game-changer and an inspiration. I've missed his training clips--many which I forwarded to fellow consultants and several of my clients. He was so succinct with full content yet impactful words. I was so shocked to receive a call from him one day last year asking if I would participate in an activity. I couldn't believe I was talking to one of my heroes in real-time. Today I listened to a TrainingMagNetwork webinar, and in addition to that, clicked on the link for Ray's memorial. Wonderful eulogies given with so much deserved love and respect. Gary V. is carrying on the excellent webinars that he and Ray did so much to bring into existence. Thank you and God Bless you, Ray and Gary!

I never met Ray, but I watched him online for many many years. I just learned of this loss. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Ray was a constant companion online. A "go-to" guy I could count on to answer my questions and always make me appear smarter.  I am sitting at my work computer with tears running down my cheeks. Rest well my instructor and mentor, until we meet later. I wish I had thanked you in person.

I never met him in person, but he was a fantastic instructor when I took an eLearning class at UCI. I learned a lot from him, and any time I am asked to develop an "engaging" lesson or research an "engaging tool," I remember what he stressed in class: "Engagement is in the mind of the learner."

I have never met Ray in person, but I have met him online with the many classes that he offered through Vignettes Learning . I am so sorry to learn of his passing. He was a beautiful soul and touched so many lives including mine.

I am so saddened to hear of Ray's passing. I had just received his new book in the mail. Ray was such a pioneer in L&D. I had the pleasure of attending his Microlearning training classes, as well as many free webinars he hosted. Anytime I saw an email or event with Ray's name, it made me smile. Ray was a very inspirational and special person. He will be greatly missed. I send prayers to his loved ones for comfort and peace.

I just learned of Ray's passing and I am terribly sad. A tremendous figure, modest, but a real genius. A beautiful man. I had the great opportunity intern at Vignettes Learning with Ray as apart of a MS degree, custom, in Microlearning, his specialty. He subsequently made me a "Vignettes Scholar" and gave let me take all his courses for free. In the end, I look 15 different classe, over 5 years, and some 3-4 times with Ray (Story-based eLearning, MicroLearning). I've read all his books. We even hired Ray to consult on a eLearning project - spending 3 days 1-1 with him at The Athenaeum at CalTech. While meeting with him in this grand library, Ray showed us a signed, original set of Mark Twain's collected works, which he had found in this library. The sense of wonder he had really sticks with me. We, my wife, Audrey, and I, were lucky to have met him.

Like so many who have shared, I met Ray at a Training Magazine pre-conference workshop around 2014. I went into that workshop hoping to get help with creating eLearning content. I was new to training development, but I was eager to learn and hungry to make my mark. What I left with was more than I could have ever hoped for - a mentor and most importantly, a dear friend.
I'm convinced that Ray never slept! He was the hardest working, most intellectually curious person I've ever known. But he was also generous. Ray was generous with his knowledge, his network, his time, and his friendship. In a room filled to the brim with people, if you were talking to Ray, you felt like the only person in the room. He remembered the smallest detail about you, your family, your latest projects.
He loved his family, but treated those of us lucky enough to work with him like extended family. I send my deepest condolences to his beloved family. Marisu and the kids were everything to him. I always looked forward to our catch up calls and hearing about everything they were up to. He was so proud of them all. I am forever grateful that they shared Ray with us.
My life is forever changed for the better because I was lucky to know him. This world is a better place because Ray was in it.

As I entered this field, Ray's webinars and emails were some of first I came across. I was so excited when I ran into him at a training conference, I had to realize I was just one of the countless faceless professionals that eagerly learned various training knowledge and nuggets from Ray. Thank you Ray, you will be missed.  Magpahinga ka sa kapayapaan.

Forever grateful I had the opportunity to learn from a Pioneer! I will never forget you. Rest in Peace.

I feel as if I have lost a family member. I've never met Mr. Jiminez in person but I have been fortunate to attend several of his training sessions. He has made me a better Learning & Training Professional; I am forever grateful for that. I extend my sincere condolences to his family and to the Training Magazine Network family. I will miss his sense of humor and his laugh and the love & passion that he held for Training and Development.  

A very happy birthday, Ray. This is the first time in years that I greeted you late.
Ray was my longtime boss, mentor, friend, and as I would always say an elder brother I wish I had. But he is gone and my heart remains broken at the moment. That’s why it took me time to write this down. The reality has not totally sunk in and I try not to dwell on the fact that he is gone. I would like to think of him just up and about, very busy with the affairs of the projects at Vignettes Learning or taking time out to travel and spend time with Marisu and the rest of the family. I was privileged to have worked for him for more than 16 years. It was apparent to everyone of us that he was a genius that not everyone had discovered. We all looked up to him. Who we are as individuals and as a team, we owe to his mentorship. He would constantly find the time to check on us both on a professional and personal level.  I will never forget his support and concern when my mom was critically ill in 2018. He continued to send me my fees when I could not work. This would not be the last time he extended help when I needed it the most. I still wish he was around to respond to all our questions and to nudge us to be better or encourage us to grow. He was a visionary and so ahead of his time. I learned from the best coach in the world. But he was also a very considerate, kind, generous and patient person. He was a devoted family man by the way he spoke about his wife and children. It was always a joyous and exciting time when he would come and get the team together at his favorite place - the lobby of the Mla.Pen. I know we will do our best to remember your legacy, Ray. You will be deeply missed. Thank you for all the guidance and support and the love you gave us. That will never be forgotten.

There are many layers to Ray but what stands out is who he is as a wonderful human being,

Happy birthday Ray....We think of you every day here in our house. Hoping for peace and comfort for your family. I miss you.
Aimee

As a Ray birth gift to the immediate and VL family - contact me if I can help you organize his work - pro bono a few hours a week, Tita Beal anntares@yahoo.com

Ray was a great person to work with and enjoyed learning. He will certainly be missed.

Ray has been a wonderful inspiration and teacher for me. His books on microlearning and scenario-based learning helped me greatly when I had to make a fast transition in the learning design field. He provided fun and funny microlearning examples that made concepts come alive. I then had the privilege (sooo grateful!) to work personally with him on a set of workshops for our organization as we made a major pivot in how we delivered learning to our audience. His warm, kind, and lively delivery combined with his deep knowledge and expertise, tireless work ethic, and incredible generosity and great-heartedness make him an L&D superhero forever to be admired and emulated. His passing is a great loss to everyone who has known him. My heart and prayers go out to his family and the folks at Vignettes Learning. Thank you, Ray, for all you are and have done and given.

Ray was such a beautiful soul. He taught me so much when it came to L&D and was a pure joy to learn from. Whenever he had any kind of training session I would do my best to attend. I knew it would hold a wealth of knowledge, and be full of energy. I will miss his dance breaks and his energy. In the last session that I attended from him, he spoke of being a Christian, so I will not say goodbye, but until we meet again.

Much is to be said about Ray's genius, and I feel like we ordinary beings are light years away from him. He has so much energy sharing incredible ideas, and I feel like he's always 10 steps ahead from the rest of us in terms of breaking boundaries.

But more than that, I will always remember Ray for his kindness. Thank you, Ray, for giving me a chance to work with you and for believing in me.

It was such an honor to have worked with you, Ray. We're always thinking of you!

Myra [VL member]

I am devasted to learn about Ray. I took his class on e-learning many years ago, and still use the lessons he taught. His webinars and live presentations were always well done - thoughtful and interactive. I was going to contact him about some work we'd done together in years past and was shocked to see his memorial. Rest in peace, dear Ray. 

I’m in tears today over the news that a Hero of mine has passed away. Ray Jimenez was a truly incredible man I met in person at an ATD event when I first moved back to Sacramento in 2017. Afterwards I attended his advance course in micro-learning design. I had a 1-1 conversation with him this past summer about his Situational Expert program and how we might be able to incorporate that into our online training here at the State of CA. I was shocked when the Zoom call was scheduled and Ray himself showed up for the 1-1 meeting with me. But that is who he was. After our meeting, I was intending to talk to the LMS Team to see if this was even possible, and today was a shocking reminder of how fast time goes, and how fleeting life can be. You will be missed Ray!! Keep the learning going.

This is gutting news. I feel like I could have just sat at his knee and learned for another lifetime, and it still wouldn't have been enough. I'm so sorry to his family, losing a light such as Ray must be horrible, and I'll be thinking of you all this season.

Ray was always a great source if learning wisdom. He was easy to learn from and communicate with online or in person. Thank you, Ray, from what you have given me.

I first met Ray online when I attended a Storyline class that he and Kevin Thorne taught. I then attended several other in person workshops with him and we became friends. I also called him once when I was in a really not-great place and his enthusiasm and joy just cleared everything up. He was one of the most brilliant people I've ever met and I'll miss him immensely. Much to my surprise when reading his memorial, we share our birth date! His contribution and legacy will truly live on forever. He was, and will continue to be, a driving force in this industry. Thank you for everything, Ray!

Deepest condolences to the family of Ray. I started my career in Adult Learning over 10 years ago and Ray was a valuable resource for me to learn. Will be missed for sure. Godspeed

Ray must be profoundly irritated in whatever dimension he’s in: He was already starting a new breakthrough innovation that would change – again- our training industry. This summer, while most of us in Learning & Development were busy figuring out how we could use AI to get the content and activities we need to design and deliver “our” courses, Ray was writing a book and launching a course for all of us in L&D to explore together ways to empower employees to use OpenAI’s ChatGPT -and variations – to manage their own ability to achieve needed on-the-job performance results and build successful careers.

I know the bodies we "drive" wear out and we have to move on. But this is too fast! I want to know how Ray would have turned his ideas about Augmented Intelligence into a profound break through for those of us helping employees build successful careers... or maybe in the future, how we can help workers manage their own performance development process.

Ray's ideas about AI this summer are just his most recent innovations that have caused the field of training to evolve and become more effective:

• Ray was also expanding line managers’ and L&D professionals’ awareness of the value of employees share their solutions to work problems in SituationExpert.com. Coming from his own respect for each person and joy in sharing talents, not competing, Ray developed a system for acknowledging employees’ to share with each other effective solutions to typical work problems. He was showing organizations ways to embed employees’ success stories along with other micro learning courses into the flow of work. After basic orientation and training for new hires, Ray was working with clients to connect training with work so that employees learn how to handle typical challenges and problematic situations when they need to learn best practices at relevant points in the flow of work, including ways to include and share their own insights and success strategies.

• Another of Ray’s innovative strategies is working so well and spreading to other organizations that people may not realize how he worked with TrainingMagNetwork.com to shift our field of competing experts into a collegial community of professionals learning from each other. When I first started working as an instructional designer, I only met experienced learning professionals at conferences or association meetings where they were giving lecture/demonstrations or standing in booths.. They presented, we listened. Or when I paid for a course with an expert. TrainingMagNetwork’s free one-hour webinars bring us together to find out what’s new, what’s working well and how to deal with common challenges
o Free.
o Recorded to fit any busy schedule.
o Open to anyone of us propose and deliver a webinar on a presentation on what we offer that others in L&D might find useful by just covering webinar expenses.
o No focus on closing sales with hooks like, “sign today to get a discount
o Collegial, highly visual conversations among equals
o And giving each of us the ability to inform a large market of L&D professionals and executives of potential clients about work that may have value for others.

• And starting in the early 2000s, Ray’s early innovation - micro learning with vignettes. New trainers may assume short 5-30 minute micro learning units are just part of digital technology, not a break through. Newcomers to training did not experience the early attempts to shift:
o From ponderous 3-5 day onsite courses, mostly lecture with a few practice exercises, packaged in thick 3-ring notebooks… 
o To eLearning online or on CD Roms that initially was just the same content from onsite courses stuffed into long online live or recorded sessions or CD ROMs.

I don't know how Ray changed engineering before he joined us in Learning & Development, but I think Ray’s early break-through in our field was to envision short 5-30 minute micro learning focused on specific concepts, strategies and skills needed to meet real world work challenges successfully. We might be offering online courses with a live or recorded facilitator or independent study digital lessons. Whether we offer a stand-alone course or a series of micro learning modules related to a complex concept, strategy or skills.... And we maybe be focused on interpersonal communication skills or technical procedures...Whatever aspects of learning we worked in, Ray developed our ability as instructional designers, course developers/producers and facilitators/instructors to:
• Start with one or more vignettes that dramatize a real-world work challenge and stimulates employees understand the value and importance of investing their time in the micro learning;
• Then, using socratic questions and decision points with visuals, involve employees actively in the learning process with demonstrations of best practices (key concepts, strategies, skills, etc.) and practice activities that can help employees achieve work objectives, meet challenges and avoid failure with needed on-the-job performance.

As I realized the value of Ray’s vision for micro learning and found his book “3-Minute E-Learning,”I felt I was breathing fresh air after sitting through too many expert lectures, reading too many online pages of questions, answers and correct responses. So I went to the Contact window on VignettesLearning.com to type in a fan-thank you and give a suggestion (to use micro learning as a way to capture and archive how retiring experts have handled key challenges.) A few days later, I almost dropped my phone in surprise when Dr. Jimenez, the founder and CEO of Vignettes Learning called to thank me and discuss ] what we thought worked well in training – or not.

That conversation continued every few months from the early 2000s until now. My hunch is that Ray kept up with developments and fed his creative mind by regularly making these check-in calls to hundreds of us working in various areas of job training in corporations, not-for-profits, government agencies, and in all forms of learning media. Ray’s calls were a gift to me – and probably for others. A gift of respect and acknowledgement from a creative thinker in our field wanting to connect, listen and sometimes create strategies together but with those of us developing or providing training in the trenches. In my conversations with Ray, we also shared what storytelling structures we found could create powerful vignettes. Did you know that, to strengthen his facilitation and vignette design skills, Ray had the courage to take improvisation acting classes? The courage to be vulnerable.

Over the years I have been able to incorporate Ray’s micro learning structure into the various needs of my organization and then when I started a consulting practice, of my clients. Ray gives us space to adapt Ray’s vision in our own ways – the main elements of Ray’s vision that I incorporate include, in a cybershell:
• Dramatize why the training is important: Vignettes that show a work challenge or work failure that employees really want to handle well or avoid…
• Show best practices for meeting the challenge or preventing the problem: An inductive/discovery learning process that asks socratic questions about causes or possible solutions, builds on critical thinking and analytic skills, and gives ownership over the learning process to participants…
• Demonstrate how to apply best practices to situations: with brief step by step guidelines in a visual skill model, checklist or chart with questions and actions for achieving needed results…
• Practice with feedback: use the best practice guidelines to help people assess their own work and give constructive suggestions to others, inviting people to adapt the guidelines to their own style and experience as well as their cultural/organization’s styles and to create their own reminders and skill models, adapting elements to their own personal style,
• Reinforce and plan next steps. Each person decides what was most valuable for their work, adapted to their actual challenges, and plans when to turn the ideas into action on the job, with any needed coaching from each other or from resources.

Until this summer, I had met Ray in person only once, in 2013 when I took an onsite course that he led. But he became a major influence in my work over more than 10 years of friendship. In that and many online courses as well as his own free webinars, I witnessed first-hand his gifted teaching – shaped by his personal authenticity, appreciation of different ways of thinking, and ability to turn critical and creative thinking into industry changing performance development strategies. I treasured his conversationsever month or two – someone with a brilliant strategic mind really wanting to listen to our thoughts and insights. And always protecting a few minutes of conversation to share something his beloved wife Marisu or one of his sons or daughter had done that delighted him and for me to give some family highlights. Virtual friends.

I am so grateful that this summer, when I visited one of my sons in Los Angeles, Ray and his wife Marisu made time to meet me for dinner. As I mentioned, only the second time meeting him out of cyberspace… and the opportunity to meet the woman he had so often spoken about with so much love and appreciation: Marisu Jimenez, who is a phenomenon in her own right. She designs, manages and often hosts events and programs in a university center for alumni -- planning fund-raisers, dinners and award ceremonies for university graduates, development of relationships with seniors, entertainment events, residencies and conferences. Marisu shares Ray’s ability to connect with people both personally and organizationally. She and Ray had new plans for their future. I hope her sorrow will someday lighten with the good memories.

Oops, Ray isn’t here to tell me to cut this down, make this more concise and stop embarrassing him! But I just wanted to let the thoughts flow.

Ray brightened my days whenever I attended his webinars, so here's a candle to light your path, Ray! I cried so many times watching Ray, with his poignant stories to his hilarious anecdotes and plan to re-watch some of his recordings whenever I need a "Ray of Sunshine" reminder.

Ray brightened my days whenever I attended his webinars, so here's a candle to light your path, Ray! I cried so many times watching Ray, with his poignant stories to his hilarious anecdotes and plan to re-watch some of his recordings whenever I need a "Ray of Sunshine" reminder.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Ray in person but I felt like I knew him. He had such an amazing personality and was a great presenter. I always enjoyed his webinars and YouTube videos. I’ve grown leaps and bounds from his insights and have become a better trainer because of him. My deepest condolences to his family. He will be greatly missed.

I'm so thankful I met Ray during the pandemic when I lost my job. He interviewed and hired me right away.

Working with Ray at VL is like being part of a close family. He's very involved in our work, and many of us see him not just as a boss but also as a father.

One funny thing I always remember is how he gives us feedback. Sometimes, because he's so imaginative, his comments can be a bit challenging to understand. But whenever he asks if we get it, we always say yes with a smile. :D

I also want to share that in 2021, I went through a tough time when I lost my baby and couldn't work for about two weeks. Even though I couldn't get paid during that time, Ray still made sure I received my pay. This shows how caring and understanding he is as a boss. He knew I needed support during my recovery.

I just want to say a big thank you to Ray. You will always be precious to Edward and me.

They say that you should never meet your heroes, but maybe those people who say that just had the wrong heroes to begin with.

I not only met mine, but ended up working for him.

Ray Jimenez was my L&D hero.

I started out as Ray’s fan in 2018, following him in his webinars at Training Magazine. Imagine my delight when I had the opportunity to actually work closely with him 2022. In the one year I had worked for him, Ray opened so many doors and opportunities for me —including me in his list of experienced mentors and consultants, giving me a seat at the powerhouse L&D table with him, letting me collaborate and network with his fellow L&D titans, and teaching me to defy the limits of my situation. There was never a dull moment at work with him, as we, the Vignettes Learning Team, were always challenged to think beyond what is, question why not, and most of all, be reminded to have fun. Or as Ray would often say, “tuloy ang ligaya” (the happiness continues).

So Ray… It’s been an honor. Thank you for responding to my email, taking my call, and even inviting me to be part of your team. I’m devastated and heartbroken knowing that I won’t be able to talk to you. I will miss every bit of our conversations. Our leader, mentor, friend, and father, we love you.

Maraming salamat po.

I attended Ray's Training Magazine professional development webinars. His infectious smile and enthusiasm for AI were a sheer delight to behold. He will be missed in the Learning & Development space. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to our community. Godspeed to Ray's family and friends. May his soul rest in peace. He did what he loved to the end.

I joined the State Library of Louisiana in October of 2022 as part of the Library Development department. In the last year, I have attended several of Mr. Ray Jimenez's training sessions. He was an extremely knowledgeable man who had a wonderful sense of humor that carried over in the learning sessions I attended. I was so saddened to hear that he had passed away. Even though I never met him in person, his "positive persona" reached out from the computer screen and made you glad to be in his class. I will always remember his smile and smiling eyes.
I send my love and prayers to his family at this time. He will be missed greatly.
Sincerely,

Michele Jones

I met Ray in the spring of 2011 at a story-based learning workshop in Houston. I had been in the learning field for five years, and was trying to figure out if I wanted to stay there. I had been trying to infuse story and learning and was searching for experts who had done this successfully before. I found Ray's workshop. The Houston one was full, but I contacted him and he invited me to come. It was the most excited, energized, and happiest I'd been at any type of training. I knew I had found what I was looking for. I felt home.

I worked up the courage to approach Ray as he sat alone in the hotel lobby after the first day of the workshop concluded. Immediately, we recognized each other as kindred spirits. It was the start of our 12 year friendship that I have always and will always deeply cherish. He was my mentor, my partner, my sage, my confidante, and most of all- my grounding. He always grounded me in every conversation. And he always reminded me of who I am. His belief in me seemed unconditional.

I'm so struck by all of the tributes, because we are all saying such beautifully similar things. I keep wondering - how was this man so many things to so many people? How did he do it? How did he manage to mentor us all and lift all of us up? I'm so grateful to have been in his life and to be in all of yall's company.

Beyond a genius in the learning field, Ray was one of the best humans I'd ever met. Warm, funny, open, adventurous, willing, eager, ambitious, patient, calm, and unbelievably kind. I miss you Ray. I'm going to miss our talks forever. Thank you, Ray.

In October of 2021, I transitioned into the training and development space from another industry. Without a significant amount of formal education in this field, I was often at a loss. A colleague told me about TMN and the free webinars. What a valuable resource! The webinars, whitepapers, eBooks, and other interactions with TMN content changed my professional life completely! More specifically, Ray's webinars were informative, interactive, and interesting. 

I count it a privilege to have known such a creative, caring, and courageous man in the small way that I did. The ripples of the contributions he made to the world, and especially to the realm of training and development, will doubtless be far-reaching and unending. 

Rest in peace, Ray. 

Very grateful for Ray's passion for training. I've attended several of Training Magazine's free webinars over the years. So very appreciative to Ray and his role in these professional development offerings. Many companies don't prioritize or invest in the training of facilitators. To learn about the latest topics and tools to make training more engaging has been so valuable to me. Ray made a difference for many professionals around the world. He was a great example of enduring to the end while making powerful contributions with his gifts and talents. Thank you, Ray. Penny, Boston MA, Trainer/ MA Dept of Transportation

Ray, you were my inspiration in this training world. You motivated me and enabled me to do better even in a challenging enivornment. I often find myself quoting Dr. Ray sayings. Your were such a respected pioneer in our world! I will treasure the courses, the materials, the resources but more than anything our chats about life!

We will miss you and your brilliant mind! Thoughts to your family, friends and co-workers. As you like to call me, that crazy Canadian!

Woke up this morning to this news. Lost a good buddy today. Both Ray Jimenez, PhD and I were huge advocates of Training Magazine Network Training Magazine and everything that they had done not only for us but the training community. For 15 plus years we always attended one another sessions and always promoted one another at the Training Mag event held in Florida each year. In the past year as our company's product evolved Ray spent a good four hours with me one night just talking about how to use artificial intelligence in our platform. As always there was no discussion of payment just good friends helping each other. As I got ready for today which is a busy day I found myself after receiving an e-mail from a mutual friend with a lump in the throat and tears rolling down my face knowing I could still hear Ray's laugh and telling me to get to work. No time to waste we 're too old he would often tell me. Thanks Ray!

We often would joke about how we were still so technically savvy for two old goats who just seemed to love what we do as each day passed. Every year we always had a meal together at the Training Magazine conference in Florida which was always our meeting place. I will forever be thankful for his friendship and I always tell the people that work with me I adopted his style of always relentlessly being helpful.

Will miss you Ray!

A job well done is what we all strive for - and not only professionally but also personally. Thank you for dedicating your life to the ongoing pursuit of learning. We are all better because of you, Ray.

Ray's care, guidance, belief, and unwavering support have shaped me during these remarkable 7 years that I have worked with him. Coming from a different industry, I started working for Ray as a software tester. He has given me so much trust and offered opportunities that paved the way for me to hone my skills, discover my abilities, and grow as a person. I was planning to surprise him with my project management certification but sadly, he left before I could even finish the course.

It is truly a great honor to have you as my boss, Ray. May your bright light continue to shine in heaven. I will surely miss our team huddles, filled with your wisdom and humor. Thank you for all the help. Thank you for the lessons you taught us. Thank you for everything.

Ray was a colleague for the last 13 years, partnering with the business I work for. He was so intelligent, yet so down-to-earth and kind. When I saw Ray at our annual conferences, he always had a big smile for me and I'd check out his colorful bow tie. I always felt like I was catching up with a favorite family member. We had some dine around events at the conferences, and Ray always led one as he was Mr. Popular! The people going on his dine around signed up for Ray, not the restaurant, and there was always a waiting list. We liked to tease him about it! In recent months, I was lucky to see him on video in group Zoom meetings. He always greeted me with a "Hi Vicki" and then of course I'd comment on his bow tie! He left us too soon, but he will be in our hearts and minds forever...what a special man. My deepest sympathies to his family, friends, and his work family. 

My experience of Ray was only through his webinars and books. His thinking keeps offering more possibility as I progress. His mission-focused, grounded approach and generosity will stay with me. My heart goes out to Ray's family.

My heart is breaking with this news. What a huge loss for the L&D field, yet what a huge legacy he leaves behind. Like so many others, I first met Ray when I took some courses online. I was hooked! When he contacted me about becoming a mentor, I was so honored, especially since I wasn't working directly in the field of L&D. Connecting with Ray always left me feeling so peaceful and energized at the same time. The passion for his field was obvious. My colleagues are all familiar with the "Ray-isms" I share, and seldom are they shared related to L&D! His lessons have transcended the field. My friend, you will be missed greatly! Now go share your smile and love of learning with your new colleagues.

Ray and I have worked together for 23 years. He's been a huge part of my life and I could tell many stories about how generous and kind Ray has always been to me, but here's one I teasure. One day we were on a call and he asked me how I was. I told him that I was a little frazzled as my mom (who was 99 years old) had just been taken to the hospital down in Orange Country, CA. Being in northern Idaho, I couldn't visit her though. After that we went on with our work and didn't focus on Mom anymore. It was just a mention.

A few days later I was talking with Mom on the phone. She said "Ray came to visit me". "Whaaat???", I said. Maybe she dreamt it or was someone else she thought was Ray. No, she insisted he came in, said "Hi, I'm Ray" (He didn't really know her well.) She told me Ray held her hand and comforted her and I really thought she had dreamed all this. So I asked Ray about it.

Ray confirmed that yes, he had called the various hospitals then drove all the way from Pasadena to where she was in Orange County and spent a couple of hours there.

He did it because he knew I couldn't. Ray held her hand and comforted  her in my place because he knew how important it was to me. He wasn't going to tell me. He just did it out of the kindness of so very kind heart. 

Yes, Ray has always been so brilliant, so helpful, so inspiring but so much more.  What a sweet, sweet angel of a man we have all lost.

What an incredible loss. Ray, your legacy is all the learning we did with you and because of you, learning about all kinds of topics. What a story-teller you were. I envied your gift to bring out the learner in all of us and for your ability to draw the learner into the story and make them part of the conversation. I will never be able to remember all that I have learned from listening to your talks. God Bless you and yours. Praying for comfort for your family and friends.

In fond remembrance, of a highly respected member of the learning and training community. His warmth, personality, and unwavering passion for offering opportunities and supporting fellow professionals leaves an indelible mark. Forever remembered with gratitude and admiration.

In fond remembrance, of a highly respected member of the learning and training community. His warmth, personality, and unwavering passion for offering opportunities and supporting fellow professionals leaves an indelible mark. Forever remembered with gratitude and admiration.

I am so sorry to hear of Ray's passing. I attended his story-based eLearning workshop several years ago and continued to keep up with his emails and videos. As an L & D professional, I have always appreciated the insights Ray has been willing to share with those who have a passion for learning. May his legacy live on as we continue to practice the things that he was passionate about.

I am shocked and saddened to hear about Ray's passing. I have taken seminars that he facilitated. He will definitely be missed in the instructional design world.

I’m terribly sad to hear this news, and although I never met Ray personally, his presence as a L&D trainer made me feel like I had. He exuded such warmth and love that made me smile at the screen. He seemed to have a deep knowing of what really was important, in the human level, in the midst of this technical world that seems at times to be moving in a different direction. He will be missed because he touched even those he never met!