A celebration of life for Ray Harriman will take place at 6 p.m. tonight, at Panther Stadium.
The public is invited to the service at the football field, located at Cortez Middle School.
Harriman, who was a social studies teacher and coach at M-CHS, likely suffered heart failure that led to a car crash near the intersection of Fourth Street and Merritt Way in Dolores about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Harriman was 61 and had taught in the district for more than 20 years, according to Re-1 Superintendent Lori Haukeness.
Harriman was born March 24, 1956 in Pueblo to Raymond and Geraldine (Zgut) Harriman, according to the Ertel Funeral Home. Among survivors are Harriman’s wife, Deborah Harriman, of Cortez, son Kyle Harriman of Denver and parents Raymond and Gerry Harriman, of Walsenburg. Also surviving are Harriman’s siblings, Joanna Payne (Carl) and Eric Harriman (Margo), of Pueblo West and David Harriman (Josie) of Walsenburg.
Harriman had spent the day riding his mountain bike with his dog at Boggy Draw north of Dolores before he died, according to Kinsey Ertel. He spent 39 years in the Southwest and worked to understand the region’s culture. In addition to teaching, he spent time as a crew chief on the Dolores Archaeological Project.
Harriman was pronounced dead at Southwest Memorial on Tuesday evening. According to local officials and family, he likely suffered heart failure, which led to the crash. Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin said Wednesday that his office was waiting for an official cause of death from the county coroner.
“He was a great man and cared so much about this community,” said his son, Kyle Harriman.
The celebration of life service will be open to the public. A memorial page for Harriman has been set up at www.never-gone.com/Memorials/RayHarriman.
The Journal will be providing live coverage of the event for readers. Check twitter.com/TheJournalCO and twitter.com/Journal_Jacob for coverage during the service.
