Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant Ronald Ray suffered a fatal heart attack while working a DUI checkpoint near the intersection of Riverdale Road and Stateline Road in Memphis.
He began to feel ill and was treated at the scene by paramedics. He was transported to Methodist Germantown Hospital where he passed away three days later.
Sergeant Ray had served with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office for 37 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TN-78C80BFC- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
37 years. You could have gone home.
Sergeant Ray gave the Shelby County Sheriff's Office 37 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Memphis community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Ray.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant Ronald L. Ray is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In TN, 37 of 769 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.8% of this state's fallen. That is 0.8 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Shelby County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 21 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Ronald L. Ray's cause is highlighted.
How Ronald L. Ray Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Ronald L. Ray is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
20 officers from Shelby County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
