Hope Reeves Ray passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on August 28, 2026.

Hope grew up in Harlem, GA, with her family but moved to Augusta around the time she married her lifelong partner, Don Ray, when they were nineteen years old. They were together for a total of forty-three years. During those forty-three years, they had two daughters, Olivia and Talor. Talor then brought her favorite son-in-law, Jake, into the fold.

If you had asked Hope a few years ago what her greatest achievement in life was, she would have said it was raising her two daughters. But if you had asked her a few weeks ago, she would have said it was a tie between seeing her daughter raise her grandchildren and achieving her dream of obtaining a bachelor’s degree.

Within the last two years, she was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree and graduated with the distinction of magna cum laude. Hope’s love for school started at an early age. In high school, she even ranked in the top three percent of all students in the state of Georgia. Hope loved to learn, and she used that passion to drive her success at work. She held a multitude of jobs during her impressive thirty-seven-year career, ultimately becoming an IT manager later in her professional journey at Savannah River National Laboratory.

When she wasn’t working or doing schoolwork, you could find Hope on a cruise ship. She and Don were serial cruisers, and that was where she was happiest—specifically in the casino. Her other happy place was the beach. There, you could find her with a book in one hand and a Coca-Cola can in the other.

Hope is survived by her husband, Don, and their children, Olivia and Talor Cooper. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Allison, Jackson, and Abigail Cooper. In addition, she is survived by her mother, Brenda Munro; sister, Belinda Tilley; and brothers, Mike and Charles Reeves.

Funeral Services will be held on Thursday. September 3, 2026 at 1:00 PM at Pine Hill Baptist Church, 4233 Old Waynesboro Rd, Hephzibah, GA 30815, with Pastor John Strickland officiating. The family will recieve friends on Thursday at the Church from 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM prior to the service at the church. The family kindly requests everyone wear purple to the service since it was Hope's favorite color.

In lieu of flowers the family kindly request donations be made to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.