KWL LLP dba Accountability

Ray Revenaugh

1951-2008

Who Knew?

I was blessed to be Ray’s business partner for almost three years. I came to know him, like many of you, when I had a problem and needed some help. I had my own accounting and tax business, and was engaged to work for a company who used the BusinessWorks accounting program. I had never used that program before, but I knew its inventory module was in need of repair. Because KWL LLP dba Accountability sold BusinessWorks to this company, I set up a time to meet with Ray to learn what needed to be done to fix the accounting program. Who knew that from that one phone call I would soon become Ray’s partner at KWL LLP dba Accountability?

A few years later, I knew my work for this client was done. Things were running smoothly in his office and it was time for me to turn it over to a full time employee. I prayed about this move, because leaving it would cause a financial hardship on my family, but I also knew God was telling me he was in control of my life and to trust him. That was January of 2004, and tax season was underway for both Ray’s business and mine. Ray’s office manager had just given him notice that she was leaving. Ray prayed and asked God to send him someone who could help him out. That was about a week or two after I gave my notice and I was praying for God to send me a new client to replace the one I was leaving. I remember praising God for his answer to my prayer when I began working for Ray, especially when I found out Ray was a fellow Christian.

After I had worked with Ray for about one year, he asked me to consider merging our businesses. The first time he asked I said no. But the second time, I told him I would pray about it. God gave my husband and I peace about the merger, so on July 1, 2005 our businesses were merged. Who knew I would find someone who was a workaholic like me, who had the same core values and desire to serve our Lord using the talents God had given us?

These past four years have been such a wonderful growing time for me because of Ray. I was blessed to be his business partner and friend. I learned so much from him and we become friends. Ray had so many different facets to his personality that impressed me and I will always thank God for bringing us together. I want to share some of the things I learned about Ray.

All of the computers at the office have a Disney name. At one time Ray’s computer was Scrooge. I told him several times that name did not describe him (although Ray would make Abraham Spencercoln’s nose bleed because he would squeeze the penny so tight). Unlike Scrooge, Ray was a very generous, loving and compassionate person. If Ray met you, he cared about you. You could call upon him anytime, day or night and he was always there to listen, talk or pray with you. I remember one time during tax season I was sitting at a desk in the accounting section of the office and I could see Ray reaching across the desk holding onto the hands of a man who was going through a difficult time and they were praying. I have talked to several people in the past few days who shared how Ray always had time to pray with them and to listen to them. Who knew this man who called himself Scrooge had such of big heart full of love, compassion, and understanding and true desire to be used as God’s servant to others?

Another thing I learned about Ray was his desire to teach and solve problems. He loved to teach people how to use accounting programs more effectively, or fix a problem they were having. When he would go to a client’s office to help them or suddenly figure out how to solve a problem that he was told could not be done, there was a glow in his face and a twinkle in his eye. When we had a question at the office on how to do something, he would not give us the answer unless we had tried to figure it out on our own. Boy, would that drive us up a wall! I would think, Okay, here is a guy who watches how he spends his money very carefully, but he would pay for his staff to spend hours sometimes to resolve a problem instead of just giving us the answer. He was compassionate in his desire to teach others about the love of God. He wanted everyone to know that God loved them beyond their wildest dreams, and was always there to help us through our darkest hours. Who knew he was preparing us, like Jesus, to be able to continue on after he was called home?

I learned about his mother and how she loved to cook and to try different things. It was often scary when you would see what Ray was eating. Gary Steichen would talk about times they were on a business trip and going out to eat. Ray would look for the strangest sounding thing on the menu to order. Mikki, who knew that your son would use the adventurous taste buds you cultivated in him to expose so many of us to new foods?

I learned that Ray’s love for his wife Dianne, his children Brandi and Jeff, their spouses Scott and Melissa, and his grandson Garrison was unmeasurable. Because we shared the same section of the office I could hear him talking on the phone with them. Ray did not have a loud voice, but the sweetness in his voice and the compassion in his words was deafening. He loved his family so much! I praise God for bringing the most recent addition to Ray’s family — his grandson Garrison. When Brandi would come into the office to visit her dad, Ray became a different person. He would be on the floor playing with Garrison. The times when he was asked to babysit Garrison made his day. When it was time for him to leave the office, you could hear it in his voice and see it in his walk that he was truly happy. Who knew that Brandi’s love for scrapbooking would lead to their son Garrison?

Ray had a passion for life. He shared his adventures as a teenager — how he traveled across Europe on his own. As he shared that story, I kept thinking about his mother Mikkie, and how she lived through raising Ray. I would have had such a difficult time as a mother seeing my young son traveling the world by himself. Mikkie, you did a wonderful job raising Ray, and the values you taught him he also taught his children. Ray loved the outdoors and doing new things& his annual canoe trips, bicycling, visiting other countries, going on mission trips, sailing, scuba diving — and the list goes on. Who knew that on Thursday, May 29th as Ray left the office with a bounce in his walk, a sparkle in his eyes and a big smile on his face, to join his sister and her boyfriend on a bike ride, that he would be taken home to be with our Lord and savior?

I have asked the question several times, “Who knew?” The answer is, God knew. The Bible tells us that God who began a good work in us will not quit until it is done. Ray’s time with us is done, but his memory and what he taught us will live on forever. We loved Ray and he will never be replaced. We feel a void in our lives, but we need to remember God is waiting for us to seek him and He will fill this void and give us peace. To Dianne, Brandi, Scott, Mikki and the rest of Ray’s family& I give you my love, and pray for God to give you strength to get through this time. Ray would want each of us to remember that for Christians, this is not good bye. For we will see Ray again when we too are in the presence of our Lord and Savior. Until that perfect time when God calls us home, Ray will be remembered and loved in our hearts.

— Michael Lin

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