General News
23 June, 2025
A life of faith and service
RAY LEED 1930-2025 FARMER RAY Leed was a central part of Yarrawalla and Pyramid Hill district communities throughout his life. The last surviving grandchild of his generation in the Leed family - grandfather David and Mary Ann Leed, of Molog...
RAY LEED
1930-2025
FARMER RAY Leed was a central part of Yarrawalla and Pyramid Hill district communities throughout his life.
The last surviving grandchild of his generation in the Leed family - grandfather David and Mary Ann Leed, of Mologa Central, had married in the 1880s. Ray was born to Jack and Ivy Leed and attended Central Mologa School and his final year of education was in Bendigo. Some weekends he stayed in Bendigo and picked up a job delivering telegrams.
He played football and cricket for Yarrawalla. Ray was a member of the 1955 football premiership team when his father was club president. Like his father Ray wanted to be a farmer and before marrying Mabel in 1957, he also worked on farms across the district. They celebrated their sapphire wedding anniversary in 2022 with a luncheon attended by family and friends.
He had met Mabel, of Kamarooka, at a Methodist Youth Convention in Sydney. Ray had attended Sunday School at Yarrawalla and would become secretary of the Sunday school for more than 30 years. He also ran the Methodist Youth Group in Pyramid Hill open to all denominations and organised Sunday school picnics to Mitiamo.
One of his duties was the purchase of books for Sunday school student prizes that saw him travel to Bendigo to select the books. Ray also established a second youth group at Yarrawalla. His involvement in church life continued a family tradition.
His funeral service was told that Ray “lived with a faith that was not just spoken but shown. He didn’t seek attention, no accolades but instead sought to reflect the love of God in the way he lived. He lived a life anchored to faith”.
In 2013 with the closure and decommissioning of the Yarrawalla Methodist Church, by then the Uniting Church, Ray and Mabel adopted the Pyramid Hill Tyndale Uniting Church as their place of worship. Ray’s community involvement also included the former Pyramid Hill Bush Nursing Hospital. He is survived by wife Mabel and children Christine, John, Douglass and Dianne.
Read More: Obituaries