Alfred Ray King

Alfred Ray King, age 84, was born in Dallas Tx on March 12, 1935, the oldest of three children to Ernest and Opal King.Al passed away peacefully at his son’s home in Terrell Tx. on January 30, 2020 surrounded by his loving wife of 44 years, Darlene, his children and family. Al was an amazing father to seven children, Randy King, Sonya Goodson and husband Frankie, Alfred King, Jr. (Alfie) and wife Lisa, Sheila Maglicco and husband John, Bobby King and wife Terecia, Ernest (Butch) King and fianc Karen, and saving the best for last, Geri Conner and husband Stan.He was also a doting Pepaw to 16 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren and cherished older brother of Elizabeth Long. He was fiercely loyal to his friends and a friendship once made was sure to become a lifelong one. Al worked for Frito-Lay for 20 years before moving on to the Coca-Cola Company where he met his wife, Darlene, across the bottling line. One glance at her impeccable quality control skills and he was hooked. He retired in 2006 from Loomis Fargo, after which he and Darlene became full time RV’ers, working summers in their favorite place, Estes Park, Colorado. An avid outdoorsman, his lifelong dream was to become a game warden, and he strove to instill that love of the outdoors in all his children. Camping trips, annual vacations to Colorado, hiking, fishing and hunting were all beloved activities. He loved to hunt most of all, and taught his sons, his grandsons and even some granddaughters to hunt. Some of his most treasured memories were hunting trips with his sons and friends. He wrote a short story titled “Deer Tails” about his hunting adventures, and after submitting it to Outdoor Life magazine, they offered him a freelance writing position. He also enjoyed making custom walking sticks for family and friends, the TV show Gunsmoke, and WW2 movies, documentaries and books. He has seen every single episode of Gunsmoke at least 100 times and he would make sure to tell you this as he watched it once more. Al served in the US Army from 1956-1960 where he was stationed in Germany during the same time as Elvis Presley. Unfortunately, Elvis never reached out to include Al in his band, so his closest brush with fame in the Army was to be sworn in by Audie Murphy. He has numerous loved ones waiting for him on the other side including his parents, Ernest and Opal King, his brother Bobby King, brother in law, James Long, and his longtime best friend, Jim Vaughan. His ex-wife Jean is there too, but that reception outcome is questionable. Al leaves behind a long legacy of love and friendship with all who knew him. His memory will live on in the stories we share, and the things we do that are so much a part of what he taught us all.