Violet was the 7th of 11 children. Her father John Willden was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England and her mother Margaret McEwen Willden was born in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. She married Reese James Ray on the 31 December 1893 in Mancos, Colorado. They had 7 children. Below is one account of the fate of Violet and children.
ST JOHNS HERALD and APACHE NEWS
April 15, 1915
Eight Lives Lost, Three Bodies Still Missing. Property Loss is Enormous
The Lyman reservoir Dam, located 12 miles above St Johns on the Little Colorado, broke Tuesday night just before midnight, letting loose an immense volume of water which swept everything before it for several miles down the river.
AT EL TULE, a small settlement close under the dam, eight persons were drowned, being unable to escape from the adobe house they occupied. The dead are the three children of Mr and Mrs Ellis Palmer; Gerald, Ross and Louise, Mrs Jose Saavedra Jr and her infant child, Mrs Violet Ray, her son Dewey, aged 17, and her daughter Hazel, aged 9. Mrs Ray and children came a week or so ago with a party of homeseekers from Montezuma, Colo. The men of the party had accepted work at the dam temporarily and all were living there. A family by the name of Lyons occupied the same house with the Rays and Palmers, but they all managed to escape. Mrs Ray and her son had reached a place of safety, but went back for her daughter Hazel and the Palmer children, when the flood overwhelmed them. Mrs Ray rescued two of her children who are left orphans. They are Ethel, aged 7 and Lillie aged 4. Late tonight (Thursday) the bodies of five of those drowned have been recovered, those yet missing being the baby of Mrs Saavedra, the little Palmer Girl and the little Ray girl. Practically all the male population of St Johns will turn out in the morning and continue the search until these bodies are recovered.