He’s still here, in some ways.

In the shot glass poured with a drink for him on the bar at the Ouray Elks Lodge.

In the bottles of the lavender oil he distilled and distributed to friends as a cure-all for various ailments.

In the shed full of tools and odds and ends he would give or lend to anyone who needed help.

Ray Markey was a part of Ouray, and Ouray was a part of Ray Markey. In some ways, they were inseparable, and even his death can’t fully remove him from this place he chose to call hom...