Ray Tomsche

Ray A. "Sonny" Tomsche, age 87 of Albany, died peacefully surrounded by family on Monday, October 1, 2018 at the St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be 11 a.m. Saturday, October 6 at Seven Dolors Catholic Church in Albany with Rev. Julius Beckermann, O.S.B. officiating and Rev. Edward Vebelun, O.S.B. concelebrating. Interment will be in the parish cemetery.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday and from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Seven Dolors Gathering Area in Albany. Parish prayers will be held at 4 p.m. followed by St. Joseph's Men's Society and the Knights of Columbus at 7 p.m. Friday evening at the Seven Dolors Gathering Area.

Ray Alois Tomsche was born August 25, 1931 in Albany Township, Stearns County, Minnesota to Alois and Rose (Elfering) Tomsche. Ray was born and raised on the family farm and lived there his entire life. He was united in marriage to Karleen Thelen on May 22, 1957 at St. Martin Catholic Church in St. Martin. Ray took over the family farm, which became a century farm in 1992, and still is in the family name to this day. Ray grew crops and operated a dairy farm with an emphasis on the conservation of the land for wildlife and land preservation for years to come.

After selling his dairy herd in 1985, Ray became a courier for DBL and Quest Diagnostics. He worked there over twenty years accumulating over 600,000 miles on his Ford Ranger truck and eventually traveled over 1 million miles.

He was a member of Seven Dolors Catholic Church in Albany, St. Joseph's Men's Society, the Knights of Columbus Father Pierz Council #3628, and spent over 20 years on the Albany Co-op Board. Ray enjoyed traveling to nearly every state. He especially loved seeing the mountains and visiting his children that lived out of state. Ray loved the outdoors where he enjoyed fishing and hunting, especially deer hunting with his sons and grandsons in Minnesota and Wyoming. He liked taking an occasional trip to the casino. Ray loved spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren.

Whenever Ray was asked "How are you doing?", his favorite response was "I'm still kicking". And when leaving he said "Sich dich" (Behave yourself) and "Machs gut" (Be good).

Survivors include his loving wife of 61 years, Karleen Tomsche of Albany; children, Peter (Elizabeth) Tomsche of St. Joseph, Paul (Michelle) Tomsche of Avon, Joann Tomsche (Doug Baysore) of La Quinta, California, John (Christine) Tomsche of Marietta, Georgia, Rosann (Greg) Winn of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Michelle Tomsche of Denver, Colorado; 14 grandchildren; and sisters, Mary (Vic) Maile of Avon and Alma Gillette of St. Cloud.

Ray was preceded in death by his parents; and sisters, Eleanor Tomsche and Martha Tomsche.

Serving as casket bearers will be Stanton Tomsche, Ryan May, Mitchell Tomsche Biley, Evan Tomsche Biley, Paul Michael Tomsche, and Jonathan Tomsche. Cross bearer will be Kelsey Thelen and scripture bearer will be Jovan Tomsche. Readers will be DeAnna Hodge, Courtney May, Emily Winn and Rachel Tomsche. Gift bearers will be Anna Winn, Karlee Tomsche, and Nasia Tomsche.