Posted: July 2, 2013 - 3:55pm
The musician who helped bring New Orleans and Louisiana Cajun music to Homer, Ray Garrity, got a proper second-line send-off Monday afternoon. In the New Orleans tradition of a jazz funeral without a body, wearing black and waving white handkerchiefs, the Bossy Panties dance group and the Bossy Pants band, friends and family of Garrity marched from Homer High School down Pioneer Avenue to Café Cups. (Photo by Michael Armstrong, Homer News)
“We’re not here for a long time, but we’re here for a good time,” Steve McCasland, one of the founders of the Krewe of Gambrinus, Homer’s Mardi Gras social club, said at the start of the procession.
A potluck celebration and memorial also was held for Garrity on Monday night at the Down East Saloon, bringing to town friends he had met from Juneau to Fairbanks.
Garrity, 53, died late last Wednesday in a 4-wheeler accident near East End Road. He was found dead about 10:30 p.m. June 26 on a trail near Mile 18 East End Road. According to the Alaska State Troopers, someone who had gone looking for him after he had not arrived at his destination at the expected time found Garrity on the trail. Troopers said Garrity had been riding a 4-wheeler on the trail when it flipped. He was not wearing a helmet.
Kachemak Emergency Services emergency medical technicians responded and could not revive him. Garrity was declared dead on the scene.
With his partner, Jen King, Garrity helped found and played in a popular Cajun band, Ray-Jen Cajun. He also received the distinct Mardi Gras honor, Homer style, when he became King Ray after he found the baby in the king cake one year in a lagniappe, an extra party held when the former king left town.
Read more: http://homernews.com/homer-news/local-news/2013-07-02/friends-celebrate-garrity’s-life
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