Lynn Weber presents Ray Boley with a trophy during the 2022 trophy presentation for the District 6 Class 1A Championship. / Courtesy photo

Ray Boley never let his disability slow him down.

Born with Down Syndrome in 1963, Boley used his infectious smile and personality to become one of the most recognizable and beloved people in the Bishop Carroll and Ebensburg communities.

“The only thing that compares to what Ray meant to Bishop Carroll athletes is what Bishop Carroll athletics meant to Ray,” said former Bishop Carroll basketball coach and current Saint Francis assistant football coach Dan Gueguen. “He was special and will be sorely missed by many.”

Boley passed away Feb. 11 after being hospitalized for 48 days following bouts with COVID-19 and pneumonia.

“Everybody loved him — all the coaches and all the kids, on every team,” Gueguen said. “Ray was their buddy. Even visiting coaches and officials.”

Boley always seemed to find his way to the front row.

As a Bishop Carroll student beginning in 1979, he became a manager for football and basketball, sitting with the coaches in basketball and being on the sidelines for football.

Despite not being able to drive — his parents dropped him off daily — Boley maintained his daily commitment to Carroll athletics until this past December.

He was inducted into the Bishop Carroll Hall of Fame in 2013.

“Ray is a part of Bishop Carroll,” Huskies basketball coach Cosie Aliquo said. “He is Bishop Carroll. We have won eight district titles since I have been here, and he’s been a big part of that and a big part of our program.”

Earlier this week, a few days after Boley’s funeral, standout Carroll player Luke Repko said, “He was always here to support us and was always positive. He never complained. He was one of our biggest supporters and cheering us up if we were down. We played for him tonight.”

Stories of Boley are legendary.

He was one of five Pennsylvania athletes selected for the 1980 International Special Olympics held in London, participating in swimming and other sports.

Boley carried the American flag during the opening ceremonies.

At a statewide Special Olympics function afterward, he met Joe and Sue Paterno, who were longtime supporters. As a student on Penn State’s campus a year or so later, Boley’s brother, Mike, saw Paterno walking and said hello.

Paterno immediately said, “How’s Ray doing?”

During an autograph session in the early 1980s at the Richland Mall, Ray noticed the long line awaiting Pittsburgh Pirates’ star Willie Stargell and moved to the front of it. When security tried to redirect him, Boley said, “He’s my cousin.”

The guard whispered Boley’s contention to Stargell, who said, “If he says he’s my cousin, he must be my cousin. Let him sit here.”

“He was just so much fun to have around,” Gueguen said. “You could be having the worst day, and Raymond would just light up the whole room. …Everyone has a thousand Ray Boley stories.”

Through his friendship with BC football coach Chuck Sponsky and later his son Craig, Boley attended Pittsburgh Steelers camp at Saint Vincent College.

While his travel partners were mingling, he wandered into the dining hall.

“When they finally found him, he was in the dining hall having lunch with Chuck Noll,” Gueguen said.

“He wanted to give Noll some advice,” brother Mike Boley, one of four siblings to eulogize Ray, said, laughing. “Ray had a way of getting what he wanted. He would take the back doors into things. Any normal person wouldn’t be able to, but he knew what to say, and he was not afraid to talk to anybody, no matter your position or level.”

Legendary former Forest Hills football coach Don Bailey was among the many who touched the family by paying respects at Boley’s visitation.

Mike Boley said Bailey told him, “Back in the day, when the teams (Carroll vs. Forest Hills) would play, before every game, Ray would come up, pat me on the shoulder and say, ‘You guys are going down tonight.’ Ray would tell me that, even if Carroll had not won a game.”

In 1983, when his name was announced to receive an honorary degree from Bishop Carroll, “Ray ran down through the stands with his arms raised like Rocky Balboa,” Mike said.

Due to a speech impediment, Boley called Gueguen “Dig.”

“He had a nickname for everybody,” Mike Boley said.

Gueguen remembers a frigid night heading to a key game at Bishop McCort. The coaches, at that time, wore jackets and ties.

“I have a top coat on — a camel top coat,” Gueguen said. “Ray’s sitting in the front seat of the bus with me. He’s next to the window, and he’s eating a bag of Cheetos — and he’s wiping his hand on my coat. When we get off the bus, I’ve got a big orange spot on my coat.”

In addition to his volunteerism at Bishop Carroll, Boley spent 40 years working for the Cambria County Association for the Blind, helping to manufacture hangers and hooks.

“It gave him some responsibility, and he rarely ever missed a day of work,” Mike Boley said.

He was also active in his church, Immaculate Conception, in New Germany.

In addition to his four siblings — Mike, David, Kristine and Daniel — Ray is survived by his parents, Donald and Edith, along with 10 nieces and nephews.

“He was an inspiration,” Mike Boley said. “He had a T-shirt that said, “I’m the greatest uncle,’ and all of his nieces and nephews have his picture on the home screen on their phones.”

Those inclined are welcome to consider donations in Ray Boley’s name to Bishop Carroll Athletics, 728 Ben Franklin Highway, Ebensburg, PA 15931.