Ray Deering, a beloved Baylor School administrator and sports enthusiast who wrote a popular sports column in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, has died.
A lifelong resident of Chattanooga, Mr. Deering was a 1961 graduate of Chattanooga High School and received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Chattanooga in 1965. At UC he served as the sports editor of the Echo and was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He earned the master of education degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1971.
He was a member of the Alpha Society.
Mr. Deering worked as a sports writer for The Chattanooga Times during his college years. In 1964 he joined the faculty of The Baylor School, where he worked until leaving Chattanooga in 1997 for two years to re-join his friend and mentor, Dr. Herb Barks, as dean of faculty and head of the middle school at the Hammond School in Columbia, S.C.
He began his Baylor career as an English teacher and adviser to the student newspaper. He held several administrative positions including director of the lower school, director of the upper school, dean of students and headmaster. He returned to full-time teaching in 1991.
After retiring from Hammond in 1999, Mr. Deering served for one year as special assistant to the president of Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., before becoming a special assistant to the chancellor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He also served briefly as interim headmaster of the Scenic Land School. He also served as an adjunct instructor at UTC and Chattanooga State, where he taught courses in College Success.
He was a founding board member of the Animal Care Trust, serving as vice-chairman of the board for two years. He was a former member of the Chattanooga Rotary Club, the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club and the Walden Club.
In 2001, Times Free Press publisher Tom Griscom invited Mr. Deering to write a bi-weekly sports column for the paper. Although he occasionally wrote about other sports, the passion he held for baseball was evident in his many columns about the Chattanooga Lookouts, past and present.
He is survived by several cousins. At his request, there will be no visitation or memorial service. Arrangements are by Heritage Funeral Home, 7454 E. Brainerd Road.