Raphael “Ray” Zephyr Letourneau, Jr. of Leawood, Kansas, was born January 14, 1958 in Wichita, Kansas to Raphael Sr. and Bessie Letourneau, and passed away October 8, 2018 at Kansas CityHospice House in Kansas City Missouri. He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife of 22 years Vicki (Halterman) Letourneau, god-son Connor Letourneau, father and mother in law Don and Betty Halterman; siblings Don Letourneau (Deborah), Nancy Volmer (Phil), Judy Forsse (Eric), Mary Mora (Pete), Karen Oblinger (Gregg), Kevin Letourneau (Deanne), John Letourneau, Renee Keffer (Dennis), Sister Ann Letourneau, Kent Letourneau (Christina), sisters and brothers in law Deb and John Selix, Sherri Shawgo, Lori and Tom Wikoff, 31 nieces, nephews, and 43 great-nieces and great-nephews.
Ray graduated from Blessed Sacrament Catholic grade school and Kapaun Mount Carmel high school where he was the valedictorian of the class of 1976. He went on to Kansas State University where he was president of Acacia Fraternity and member of numerous honor fraternities. He graduated with a Bachelor of Sciences in Accounting in 1980 and went on to start his career at Ernst and Whinney public accounting firm. He achieved his C.P.A. in 1983. From 1987 – 2003 he worked for Carondelet Health in various roles in hospital administration. He was instrumental in their initial implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). He earned a Master’s in Health Administration from Webster University. In November 2003 he started working for Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care as Chief Administrative Officer. In this role, Ray was able to utilize his intellect and compassion for others to find happiness and fulfilment. Ray was an avid sports fans having held season tickets to Kansas State Football for 41 years and season tickets to Kansas City Chiefs and Royals games for numerous years as well. He loved tailgating and traveling to bowl games and away games with his family and friends.
In January 2013 Ray was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic with a form of dementia that affects the part of your brain that controls your ability to communicate called Primary Progressive Aphasia (www.brain.northwestern.edu/dementia/ppa/). It started with loss of the ability to find the word he wanted to say and progressed to rob him of the language needed to perform his job at Kansas City Hospice. He had to give up a job and people he loved. Over the next few years he was robbed of the ability to find almost all words. Ray returned to the Kansas City Hospice House for the last few weeks of his life with his loving wife at his side. The place that he had nurtured, nurtured him in his last days. We will be forever grateful for the wonderful care and compassion from all at Kansas City Hospice.
The funeral Mass will take place 10:00 A.M. Monday, October 15 at Church of the Ascension, 9510 W. 127th Street, Overland Park, Kansas.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Kansas City Hospice and Palliative Care at https://www.kchospice.org/product/make-a-donation/ or Alzheimer’s Association, Heart of American Chapter, 3856 W. 75th Street, Prairie Village, Kansas 66208. Contributions may also be mailed to Kansas City Hospice and Palliative, 1500 Meadow Lake Parkway, Suite 200, Kansas City, Missouri 64114.
