Melvin Raymond Fuentes, 71, passed away November 13, 2001 at his home in Peralta, N.M. Ray is survived by his wife, Fannie; sons, Melvin Fuentes and his wife, Barbara of Beaverton, OR, Ronald Fuentes and wife, Delaine of Roseburg, OR and Dale Fuentes and wife, Elizabeth of Cheraw, SC; sisters, Helen Peters, Velma Russell, Lillie Snyder, Shirley Snyder and twin sisters Mary Owen and Myrtle Laney; and brother, Eddie Fuentes. Ray was preceded in death by his brothers, Leonard and Joe; and both his parents. He was born June 23, 1930 to Raymond Urals Fuentes and Mary Ellen Heath. On November 9, 1949, he married Fannie Howell in Frisco, N.M. In his early years and for the first year of their marriage, Ray worked in sawmills around Catron County. After that he worked in road construction building highways and bridges around New Mexico. After a few years, and two sons, he went to work for El Paso Natural Gas in Kirtland, N.M. where he stayed for 13 years. While there their third son was born. After many years, Ray pined to change both his career and where he lived. He packed up his family and moved to La Grande, Oregon where he started working in the wood products industry. He stayed there for a few years then began working for other companies finally ending up with Medford Corporation. While there he went to Ireland as part of a team that, in conjunction with the Irish government, built a medium density fiberboard plant to utilize the maturing timber that had been planted to reforest the country after World War II. After he left Medford Corp. he moved back to New Mexico with Fannie. He worked at the now defunct fiberboard plant then later for Ponderosa Products at their components plant. When the opportunity to oversee the dismantling and moving the fiberboard plant he had worked at in Las Vegas, NM, he jumped at the opportunity. He moved to Willacoochee, GA for a few years to oversee the reassembly and start of the plant. His last project before retiring was the installation of a chip loader at the sawmill in Española. After he retired he continued to work at his home building a shop and doing several improvements on the property. A Memorial Service was held Friday, 1:00 p.m., at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Los Lunas Chapel, (James Street). Funeral services were held Saturday, 12:00 p.m., at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Luna Chapel, in Luna, N.M. Interment will followed at Luna Cemetery. French Mortuary, 1111 University Blvd. NE.