Raymond John Sleep

Raymond John Sleep was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 11th, 1931 to Alice (Neish) and John Sleep. He was the eldest of their three boys, including Richard and Ernest.

Ray’s love for literature, writing and learning began at a young age and he loved to teach himself. In childhood, he skipped school to lie on the roof of their Detroit home and read. He and his brothers had many adventures boating and swimming in the Detroit River near Belle Isle. Ray graduated from Southeastern High School in 1949 and went on to Wayne (State) University. He left Wayne University in pursuit of his dream of becoming a writer and moved to Manhattan in 1949 for six weeks, when he ran out of money and claimed, “my pen just wouldn’t write a story”.  

After returning home, Ray was drafted into the US Army in 1951 to serve in the Korean War. Ray served as a Corporal with the 313th Military Intelligence Platoon and was stationed in Kornwestheim, Germany. He lived and served with his small unit in a villa where eventually he would meet a beautiful housekeeper, his future bride, Helene Magdalene Schwarzwalder.  Ray always said, “It was love at first sight”.  They married on March 6th, 1954.  After being discharged from the Army, Ray earned college credit taking classes at the University of Maryland’s branch in Munich, Germany. Upon returning home to the United States with Helene, Ray continued classes at Wayne University and graduated in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in English.

Ray pursued his love of writing as a news man.  He worked at the Mount Clemons Monitor-Leader, Garden City Guardian, Detroit Free Press, and finally as an editor at the Ann Arbor News, where he worked for 36 years.

Ray and Helene have four children – Emily (Tim Bensette) Elliott, Bob (Julie) Sleep, Barbara (Tim) Dobberstein, and Ann (Gregg) Rosenbery; 11 grandchildren – Ryan (Amy) Elliott, Ben (Meghan) Elliott, Leslie (George) Remy, Mitchell (Keri) Sleep, Chelsea (Jason Evans) Sleep,  Madeline (Alex) Goodman, Alex Dobberstein, Jacob Dobberstein, Nicholas Rosenbery, Amelia (Mason) Kaiser, Megan Rosenbery; and 14 great-grandchildren – Anna and Owen Elliott, Michael, Elizabeth, and Caroline Elliott, Evelyn, Alaina and Abigail Remy, Riley and Sawyer Sleep, Jaclyn and James Evans, and William and Gwendolyn Goodman.

Ray and Helene lived in Ann Arbor for 33 years before retiring in Chelsea in 1998. Ray loved to read. His favorite novel was Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, which he continually encouraged his family to read. He also loved to watch University of Michigan Football, attend many of his grandchildren’s events throughout the years, and watch Jeopardy with Helene. The couple was always together and celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in March. Ray was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Ray passed away peacefully at home on September 28th, 2024, surrounded by family and Helene, his “curly haired girl from across the sea”.

The immediate family will be gathering for a celebration of his life to honor Ray.