Raymond Daniel Toma, Sr.

Raymond Daniel Toma, Sr. (“Ray”) passed away on December 12, 2025 at the Pinnacle in Oxford,

Mississippi. Visitation will be held Tuesday, December 16 th at 9:00 am at St. John the Evangelist Catholic

Church in Oxford followed by a funeral Mass there at 10:00 am with burial afterwards in Oxford

Memorial Cemetery, where he will be laid to rest next to the plots of his parents and mother-in-law.

Ray was born on February 3, 1946 in Gary, Indiana to the late Steven and Evelyn (Hollopeter) Toma. His

family was a blending of old and new. While his father’s parents had arrived in this country from

Romania just over thirty years before his birth, his mother’s family could trace its lineage to the

Mayflower.

He moved with his parents to Arizona in 1953 when he was a child, and he grew up in the Phoenix area,

graduating from Camelback High School in 1964. It was there that he met his sweetheart, Anita Marlene

Dowden, and they were married that same year. He worked as an electrician for many years, and he

and his wife started an electrical contracting company, Tomack Electric, that provided services to the

convention industry across the Southwest. For many years, they held the exclusive contract for such

work at the Phoenix Civic Plaza.

After selling their business, they moved to Roseburg, Oregon in 1997 and lived there over fifteen years.

Ray continued to be active in his new home. He sometimes worked as a river guide across the Pacific

Northwest and in Alaska and also enjoyed cruise vacations with his wife and traveling overseas to visit

family during his son’s international work assignments.

Their final move was to Oxford, Mississippi in 2013, where their eldest son was a longtime resident.

Until his Parkinson’s disease slowed him down, Ray continued to enjoy the outdoors, especially on his

wooded retreat in southern Yalobusha County, and also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

Ray was a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, the Daniel McKie Chapter of the Sons of

the American Revolution, the Sultana Camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, the

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the National Rifle Association.

Ray is survived by his wife of nearly sixty-two years, Anita, of Oxford, Mississippi; his brother Stefan

(Rose) Toma of Montreal, Quebec, Canada; son Danny (Dana) Toma of Oxford, Mississippi; son Rory

Toma of Alpharetta, Georgia, four grandchildren – Nicolae (Hannah) Toma of Bostic, North Carolina,

Domenico Toma of Memphis, Tennessee, Patrick Toma of Oxford, Mississippi, and Emily Toma of

Oxford, Mississippi; as well as three great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions in Ray’s name may be made to St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 416 S. 5 th

Street, Oxford, Mississippi 38655, or online at https://www.osvhub.com/stjohnoxford/giving/funds