Ray Maxey was born on October 26, 1945, in Lubbock, TX, to Henry Clay and Pear Lee Maxey of ten children, he was the eighth child born as a twin (Faye)to Maxey’s. In 1961, the family moved to Albuquerque, NM, where Ray was enrolled at Ernie Pyle Middle School. Ray attended Rio Grande High School, where he made the varsity football team in his sophomore year, only to be sidelined with a season-ending ankle injury. When the injury healed, he tried out for and made the varsity basketball team. He was picked and became one of only two younger players to be given the starting position for the basketball team, where he lettered for three years. His passion for team sports led him to try out and make the varsity baseball team, where he led the team in RBI's and home runs, made "All City" and "All State" for three years.

As a junior, he assumed the starting running back position on the football team, where he not only made "All-City" but also earned a spot on the All-State Team. By his senior year, Ray was chosen to play quarterback and, once again, was named "All City" and "All State". His accomplishments included leading the team in rushing, passing, and touchdowns. This earned him the distinction of being Rio Grande's first High School Parade All-American. When summer rolled around before heading off to college, he joined Dave's 9 baseball team, ending the season with the team as division champions.

In 1965, Ray received a scholarship and played both football and varsity baseball for New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. The next leg on Ray's sporting career came after entering the Army and serving for two years. While in the Army, Ray was stationed in Germany, where his appetite for sports led him to play on the battalion's basketball, football, baseball, and track teams. The battalion baseball team was skilled enough to play for the Championship

In 1967, after an Honorable discharge from the military in Germany, Ray returned home and started a family. He was blessed with five children: Ray Anthony, Mark, Jacquelyn, Henry, and Gabriella.

In 1969, Ray was one of twenty-two Running backs recruited to play for Western New Mexico University in Silver City, NM. After only three games as an alternate, Ray started and ended the first two seasons with a 105-game rushing average. In 1970, the Mustangs won the Rocky Mountain Football Conference and played for the NAIA Championship. This accomplishment led Ray to be named "Small College All-American". When spring rolled around, he joined the Baseball team, where we played for the District and NAIA Championship. In Ray's junior year at Western New Mexico University, he was invited to try out for the Cincinnati Reds professional baseball team.

In preparation for the fall season, Ray had a career-ending leg injury after falling from a 40ft telephone pole. Forced to sit out for a whole season, Ray came back to play and rushed for over 1000 yards. He graduated from college and moved to Phoenix, AZ, where he began teaching at West High School. He was the Junior Varsity coach and an assistant varsity coach in football, basketball, cross country, and track. He also assisted with pitching for the freshmen and junior varsity baseball teams. For 9 years, Ray was a winning coach for all the above-mentioned teams. He also became a member of the NAACP, for which he served as assistant secretary for the year, and is a member of the American Legion Post 100.

In 1982, Ray moved back to Albuquerque, NM, where he started his 30-year career with the City of Albuquerque, Parks and Recreation. Ray began coaching adult women's and men's softball teams. Driven by his years of experience and his love for sports, he was able to take several of his teams to State and National Championships. This is where Ray met and married the lasting love of his life, Nicolasa Valverde (Nikki), who also shared his love for sports. Together, they had one child, Damon Maxey. Ray also foresaw the importance of officiating within the City sports programs and began the still ongoing task of training and maintaining quality officiating for the city of Albuquerque. During his 20-plus years in the Sports Office, he was given the task of assigning officials to leagues and tournaments held in the city. Making sure that each season was set up with training for the sports that were in season: flag football, basketball, and 3 seasons of Softball. Over the many years of working in the City Sports Office, he had the honor of facilitating multiple Gatherings of Nations and out-of-town Chili Pepper tournaments.

In 1994, Ray began playing senior softball with a group of great guys. For the first year, they played in the league and a few warm-up tournaments. It was not long before they entered their first world tournament in Kansas City, competing against teams from all over the country. Ray was chosen as the all-tourney and was voted to play in the All-Star game. The competition was tough, and the team placed 3rdin their age group. After the first few years of playing with the 50's team, they were able to travel and compete in tournaments around the country with the goal in mind of obtaining that Gold Ring of Champs. Ray began coaching the 50's team in their second year, where the team competed in brackets for almost three years. It was in that third year that the team began winning numerous games and then proceeded to win their first World Championship. They were the first senior team in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to accomplish this. In the following seventeen years, Ray coached the 50s through the 75s age groups. They all had winning seasons and have added two more World Championships. The teams have always placed high in their age group and ranked at the top of the country. The team has moved up to the 80s, where they won their first Winter World Tournament last year as an 80s + team.

In 2007, Ray also took on the task of coaching a women's 40-year-old team. It took four years, but they finally won their World Championship and the Tournament of Champions. This was another great accomplishment achieved by the first senior women's team representing New Mexico. At the time of his passing, Ray was helping the women’s senior 60s team move through the 40s and 50s age groups, which are still competing in tournaments throughout the country today.

Awaiting his heavenly arrival are his parents, Henry Clay Maxey (1987) Pear Lee Maxey (2004); Sisters, Lorine Mildred Maxey (2009), Rose Beatrice Smith (2009), Romie Lee Willis (2012), and Mary Lue Florence (2017); and Son Mark Lynn Maxey (2021) all who have preceded him in death.

Celebrating his life and legacy are his wife, Nicolasa Maxey; Children: Damon Maxey and Ray Maxey of Albuquerque, New Mexico; Henry Maxey of Sterling, Virginia; Christopher Maxey and Danielle Moreno of Phoenix, Arizona; Jacquelyn Mudd and Gabriella Maxey of Denver, Colorado. Siblings: Elizabeth Turner (Elder Charles) of DeSoto, Texas, Sylvia Higgins and Manuel Maxey both of Denver, Colorado, Twin, Faye Davis of Baltimore, Maryland; Don Maxey (Theldoris) of Albuquerque, New Mexico; and a host of grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews and cherished friends.