Ray Funeral Home Obituaries

Looking for a recent Ray Funeral Home obituary, funeral date, or memorial service? First, check the location. Ray Funeral Home in Cleveland, Mississippi, has an active obituary directory. The former Ray Funeral Home in Madison, North Carolina, is now known as Terry Funeral & Cremation Service. Their obituary records should not be confused.

Which Ray Funeral Home Are You Looking For?

The name appears in searches for several funeral providers. Confirming the city is the fastest way to avoid reading notices from the wrong location.

Recent Ray Funeral Home Obituaries in Cleveland, MS

The following names appeared in the funeral home’s official obituary records during the October 17, 2026 research check. These are verified examples from the archive, not a live-updating obituary feed.

Research date: October 17, 2026. The list is selective, not exhaustive. Dates and arrangements should always be checked against the individual notice. Some archive entries contain differences in name spelling, dates, or other biographical details.

Direct obituary records you can check

• Cheryl Fortenberry Davis obituary — biographical information, family details, memorial requests, and service updates.
• Mary Lou Dillworth obituary — October 2026 obituary and visitation information.
• Billy Gene Tatum obituary — an example containing visitation, funeral, and cemetery details.

If the person you want is not listed above, use the full obituary archive rather than assuming no notice exists.

How to Find an Obituary: Step-by-Step

Method 1: Search the Cleveland, Mississippi archive

1. Open the directory. Visit rayfuneralhome.net/listings.
2. Check recent notices. Look through the displayed names and obituary summaries. Recent posts are typically easier to locate near the beginning of the directory.
3. Look for the person’s name. Try their full legal name, a commonly used name, maiden name, or alternative surname.
4. Open the individual notice. Select the obituary’s View link or its name to access the memorial page.
5. Read the service section. Look for visitation, funeral or celebration-of-life details, burial location, and any memorial donation instructions.
6. Confirm time and venue. A funeral may take place at the funeral home, a church, a cemetery, or another venue. Do not assume all services occur at 206 Bishop Road.
7. For a same-day service, call first. Contact Ray Funeral Home at (662) 843-1709 if arrangements appear incomplete or may have changed.

Older notices may also appear through the site’s paginated obituary archive. If the directory’s search feature does not return a match, browsing older pages or searching the person’s name together with “Ray Funeral Home Cleveland MS” can help.

Method 2: Find an obituary from Madison, North Carolina

1. Start at Terry Funeral & Cremation Service.
2. Navigate to its obituary section and search the person’s first and last name.
3. If the death occurred years earlier, try the same name with “Ray Funeral Home Madison NC” because historical notices may retain the older business name.
4. For older obituary pages, check whether the obituary was transferred to the current funeral home’s archive.
5. If you cannot locate it, call (336) 548-9606 and ask about the historical Ray Funeral Home obituary records.

How to Check Visitation, Funeral and Burial Details

An obituary is often the most useful source for attending a service, but different notices contain different levels of detail. Here’s what each term usually means and what to verify.

Example: The official obituary for Billy Gene Tatum listed a visitation, funeral service, and separate graveside service at Beulah Cemetery. This illustrates why reading the complete notice matters: the burial venue may be different from the funeral location.

Before leaving for a service

• Recheck the latest published notice for the correct date and time.
• Confirm the city, church, funeral home, or cemetery address.
• Allow extra time if traveling between the funeral location and cemetery.
• If the notice says “private service,” respect the family’s stated arrangements.
• If the obituary says services will be announced later, do not treat the absence of a time as a cancellation.

Ray Funeral Home Contact Information

What to say when calling

If you’re searching for a particular obituary, a short, specific request is usually best:

Have the person’s full name, approximate date of death, residence, and any alternate surname ready. You do not need to provide sensitive personal information just to ask whether a public obituary exists.

Can’t Find an Obituary? Try These Steps

A missing online notice does not necessarily mean the funeral home has no information. The family may not have submitted an obituary, publication may be delayed, or an older notice may not appear in the searchable directory.

1. Confirm the state. Make sure you are searching Cleveland, MS, rather than the former Madison, NC, funeral home.
2. Check alternate names. Try a maiden name, married name, initials, nickname, middle name, and common spelling variations.
3. Use a broader date range. Publication dates and dates of death are not always identical.
4. Try the last known town. Someone may have lived in Drew, Ruleville, Shelby, Merigold, Greenville, or another Delta community even if their funeral was arranged in Cleveland.
5. Check local newspaper notices. A family may have placed a notice in a newspaper instead of the funeral home’s online directory.
6. Ask the funeral home. For older records, ask whether the provider can confirm that it handled the arrangements or direct you to a public obituary.

If you need an older record for genealogy

Start with an obituary because it can provide the person’s approximate age, relatives, former residences, burial cemetery, and date of death. Then compare those details with cemetery registers or official death records.

An obituary is not the same as a certified death certificate. For legal or administrative purposes, contact the relevant state vital records authority.

• Mississippi: Mississippi State Department of Health. Look for Vital Records and death certificate instructions.
• North Carolina: North Carolina Vital Records. Review the death certificate eligibility and ordering instructions.

Certified death records may have eligibility rules and fees. Public obituary information and access to a certified record are separate processes.

How to Find the Cemetery or Burial Location

Not every Ray Funeral Home obituary identifies a burial place. If the location is listed, record the cemetery’s full name, city, and any graveside-service details.

1. Open the person’s full obituary and locate its Services section.
2. Check for terms such as burial, interment, or graveside service.
3. Write down the cemetery name and city, not just the funeral home address.
4. If the cemetery is not identified, ask the funeral home whether the burial information is publicly available.
5. Contact the cemetery office to ask about a section, lot, or grave number when you have the correct person’s details.

For older deaths, cemetery records and obituary notices should be cross-checked. An obituary might describe the intended burial place, while a cemetery register can help establish where an interment was actually recorded.

Sending Condolences, Flowers or Memorial Contributions

Individual memorial pages may offer tribute-wall messages, flowers, or memorial trees. Some families instead request a donation to a named organization.

To avoid sending a gift to the wrong location, follow this process:

1. Read the full obituary and check whether the family has expressed a preference.
2. Identify the exact service venue and date.
3. If ordering flowers, confirm the delivery deadline directly with the florist.
4. If making a donation, use the charitable organization’s own verified donation channel.
5. For online condolences, check whether the memorial page accepts new messages.

There is no obligation to purchase flowers or memorial products. A personal condolence message, card, or thoughtful acknowledgment may be appropriate.

Other Funeral Homes With Similar Names

The words “Ray Funeral Home” can also appear in the names of different providers. These should not be treated as part of the Cleveland obituary archive.

• Crawford / Ray Funeral Home: Canton, North Carolina. Its independent obituary directory is available at crawfordray.com/obituaries.
• Ray Funeral and Cremation Service: Asheville, North Carolina. Its obituary page is available at rayfuneralcremation.com/obits.
• Former Ray Funeral Home: Madison, North Carolina, now operating under the Terry Funeral & Cremation Service name.

If your family member lived outside Mississippi or Madison, North Carolina, confirm the funeral provider’s full business name before searching any archive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Checklist for Finding the Right Notice

• Confirm whether you mean Cleveland, MS, or Madison, NC.
• Check the appropriate funeral home’s obituary directory.
• Try alternate names and earlier dates if the first search fails.
• Read the entire memorial for service times and locations.
• Confirm burial information separately from the funeral home address.
• Call the correct funeral provider if an important detail is missing.

Bottom line: The Cleveland, Mississippi, Ray Funeral Home publishes obituary information through its own directory. For historical Ray Funeral Home notices associated with Madison, North Carolina, check Terry Funeral & Cremation Service. Choosing the correct location first will usually save the most time.

Information checked: October 17, 2026. Obituary availability, schedules, and contact details can change. This independent research guide is not operated by or affiliated with the funeral providers mentioned.