Ray Sells of Lebanon passed away October 1st 2025 at his residence.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Howard and Eddis Sells and brother, Charles Sells.
He is survived by wife of 68 years Betty Sells; son, Mike (Gale) Sells; daughter Jackie (Wayne) Murphy; grandchildren, Brittnee Sells, Heather Sells (Monty) Coggins, Jennifer (Brandon) Spears; great grandchildren, Carson Sells, Calvin Sells, Nyla Coggins, Kyzo Coggins, Hendrix Reynolds and Madilyn Spears; sisters, Fran (Paul) Vargus & Nancy (Jimmy) Duke.
Ray was from Livingston, TN, and a current resident of Lebanon, TN. He was the former owner of J+M Machine, which he operated for 24 years. Prior to that, he was a part-owner of Quality Machine.
Ray was married to Betty Watkins Sells for 68 years, always together, hand in hand. Their love for each other was deep and unwavering. He had a passion for the outdoors and loved fishing, especially for crappie (big daddy rabbits) and bass. He knew all the honey holes, and the lake was truly his happy place. Ray also had a gift for storytelling. He loved sharing tales from the past, always delivered with his signature sense of humor and warmth.
Visitation for Ray will be held Sunday, October 12th 2025 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. with a celebration of life service to begin at 4 p.m. in the Partlow Funeral Chapel.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Shriners Hospital club or New Leash on Life in Ray’s memory.
This obituary was published by Partlow Funeral Chapel.
This obituary was published by Obituaries provided free for the community.
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