James Michael Geray was born September 28, 1940, to Alphonse and Ann (Kirsch) Geray, and died September 22, 2009, on the family farmstead near Beaulieu, Minnesota. He attended Mahnomen High School. On September 18, 1961, Jim was united in marriage to Carol Houska at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Beaulieu. He farmed with his father and eventually took over the farm, raising cattle and small grain. Jim continued to be active in farming until his death.

Jim loved the outdoors and spent his spare time hunting, fishing (sometimes on some very secretive lakes), snowmobiling, and four-wheeling. He enjoyed playing with his loader tractor and always followed the philosophy "if you couldn't do it with a loader tractor…it couldn't be done." Recently, Jim began woodworking and made special furniture pieces for his family.

He is survived by his wife, Carol; two sons: Keith (Sally) and Chad, both of Mahnomen, MN; three daughters: Lynn Geray, JoAnn (Dean) Spaeth, both of Mahnomen and Debra (Dave) Peterson of Ashton, ID; two brothers: Walter (Carol) of Mahnomen and George of Verndale, MN; two sisters: Sister Anne Marie Geray of Crookston, MN and Rosalyn Bauer of Carlton, MN; and nine grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his parents; step-mother, Marie; brother, Jack; and son, Doug.

Funeral Services will be held Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 10:30 am at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Beaulieu, MN with visitation one hour prior to the service. Visitation will be held Friday, September 25th from 6-8 pm with a 7 pm prayer service also at the church.
Burial will be in the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery, Beaulieu, MN.