A Tribute to Ray Nunnally
Ray Lewis Nunnally was a warm, brilliant, funny man with a smile that lit up the world. Ray earned his PhD in Biophysics and did scientific research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and the University of Oregon in Eugene. As a pioneer in MRI and spectroscopy, Ray also worked for several Biotech corporations working to develop low cost MRI scanners and better MRI contrast agents.
Born in Denver, CO on December 19, 1945, Ray was devoted to his wife, Mary Hrapchak Nunnally, whom he met in graduate school at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and to his daughter Elizabeth (Lisa) Nunnally Gunderson, a commercial real estate management executive. He is also survived by his mother, Ethel Williams; sisters Jennifer Loftus Carlson and Christine Nunnally Smalley; brothers John Loftus, Kevin Loftus and Nate Nunnally; and all of their spouses and children.
Ray loved cycling, reading, photography and travel. He and Mary traveled extensively in Europe and the U.S. both professionally and for fun. One of his favorite places was Santa Fe, NM where he and Mary had hoped to one day retire.
Ray first exhibited symptoms of PSP in early 2013, and was finally diagnosed in November 2014 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He participated in a clinical trial working on treatment options at the University of California, San Francisco Aging and Memory Center and will further contribute to research efforts to find a cure for this cruel and devastating disease through the donation of his brain to the Mayo Clinic Brain Bank in Jacksonville, FL.
The family wishes to express its enormous gratitude for donations made to CurePSP in Ray’s name.