Veteran Ray Mish to be laid to rest at Hillcrest Memorial Park
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Funeral services for World War II veteran, Ray Mish, will take place Thursday morning in Bakersfield.
Ray Mish was the longtime owner of Mission Funeral Home and one of Kern County’s most beloved businessmen. Those who knew Bakersfield’s Ray Mish, knew him as a World War II veteran, a lifelong veterans’ advocate and, for an astounding eighty-plus years, a funeral director.
Now, on the eve of his own funeral, it’s appropriate to note Ray Mish was also universally regarded as simply a good guy who built relationships across generations. When Mish saw the number of fellow World War II veterans around him diminishing rapidly, he reached out to a group of about 30 younger vets who called themselves the Vietnam Rat Pack.
“We were here at the Elks, Ray came up to me and he said, ‘Hey, I want to be part of you guys even though I’m World War II’,” said George Garcia, with the Vietnam Rat Pack. “I’m like, Ray, you can be the chairman. So, since 2017, he was our chairman of the board of the Vietnam Rack Pack.”
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The Rat Pack said goodbye as a group shortly before he died. Mish – born April 24, 1924, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and schooled in Tulsa –died April 3rd – 24 days before his 100th birthday. He was a member of half the service organizations, it sometimes seems. Elks Lodge, Rotary, Knights of Columbus, Kiwanis, Lions, the Chamber of Commerce — far too many to name.
Services are set for 10:30 a.m., Thursday, April 18th, at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church, located at 900 H Street in Bakersfield. Graveside services will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mortuary, located at 9101 Kern Canyon Road.
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