Man about town
story by Allie Garza
The accident happened fast.
The accelerator stuck, and Ray Coursey Jr. knew he had to stop the van. Quickly, he turned the wheel, and the van flipped, crashing into a cement culvert.
“I woke up 11 days later wondering when I could get back to work,” said Ray, the Calloway County clerk. “I thought it was the week before the accident, elections week. I wanted to get home before the elections.”
Although he had been a quadriplegic since a diving accident at the age 13, Ray was in relatively good health until his van crashed in 2007. The accident left him with damaged lungs and a constant pain below his shoulder blade.
Despite his disability and hardships, Ray comes to work at the county courthouse each weekday ready to serve others.
“I’ve had so many people help me in life,” he said. “The idea that there’s something I can do, and do well, to help people out … It’s a good feeling.”
Employees in his office help Ray with tasks most people take for granted: gripping a pen or drinking from a cup.
“It’s really a family situation in there,” he said of his office. “It’s more of a family unit than a work unit.
For 10 hours a day, Ray is in the public eye, but at home he is Ray Boy to his parents, Cheryl and Ray Coursey Sr., and Uncle Ray to Ally and Bobby DeShields, his niece and nephew.
“I love them with everything I’ve got,” he said of his niece and nephew. “I’m trying to make the world a degree better than when I was here (for them.)”
Appointed county clerk in April 1995, Ray ran in a special election the following November. He has been re-elected without opposition ever since.
“I get up every day and do what I’m supposed to do,” he said. “If they elect you to do the job, and you respect their needs, they’ll re-elect you.”
After a long day of work, the women of the county clerk’s office began to close up. They turned off the lights, counted the money and helped Ray prepare to leave. One removed his wristband. Another took his phone and set it to charge.
Ray left with a smile on his face. His niece and nephew had come to greet and ride home with him in his mother’s van.
Ray said he feels blessed by his family, co-workers and friends in the community. “God has been better to me than I deserve,” he said.
Ray Coursey Sr., left, places a brace with a pen attached in the hand of his son, Ray Coursey Jr. The son, who is the county clerk in Calloway County, uses the pen to type and sign documents.
Calloway County Clerk Ray Coursey Jr. takes his afternoon medication with help from Terri Boggess, an employee in the clerk's office.
Calloway County Clerk Ray Coursey Jr. leads the county Board of Elections meeting in his office at the courthouse. Coursey is the chairman of the board.
Ray Coursey Sr. helps his son break up his cough in the son's office before work. Calloway County Clerk Ray Coursey Jr. had a bout of bronchitis two weeks ago and has had a persistent cough.
Cheryl Coursey pushes her son, Ray Coursey Jr., into their minivan after work. She and her husband, Ray Coursey Sr., take turns driving their son, the Calloway County Clerk, to and from work.
Calloway County Clerk Ray Coursey Jr. draws a crowd in his living room -- nephew Bobby, 6, and niece, Ally, 10. Coursey and his mother babysit the children on days when Coursey's sister attends night class.
Antibiotics and painkillers are among the medications on the chest of drawers in Ray Coursey Jr.'s bedroom. Coursey takes four and five pills a day, but tries to avoid the pain pills. "I only take half at a time," he said. "I don't like to take anything that will slow me down mentally."
Just before settling in for the night, Cheryl Coursey, 63, helps lift her son, Ray Coursey Jr., into his bed. Coursey relies on his mother and father to help him out with daily tasks, including his evening routine.
Ray Coursey Jr., the county clerk of Calloway County, sits in his bed at home and catches up on the day's news on his laptop computer. Coursey spends his evenings watching television, reading and relaxing after what is usually a long day at work.