Rick Ray, 46, Actor, Musician, Outdoorsman And Daredevil

From his youngest days, Rick Ray delivered a good show.

Whether he was fashioning a costume and performing skits for his younger sister or playing Evel Knievel on his bike in front of friends, Mr. Ray fascinated, and sometimes horrified, his audience.

The tallest tree in the wooded area near their family house wasn't immune from his clambering limbs, recalled his younger sister, Mattie Bailey. That constant risk-taking and push-the-limits attitude gave him a life that didn't waste a single moment, she said.

An outdoorsman, actor, musician and daredevil, Mr. Ray died Aug. 24 of AIDS at the Bailey Boushay House. He was 46.

Friends and family members gathered last night to remember him at a memorial service at a friend's home.

Mr. Ray developed his interest in acting while attending Seattle's Franklin High School. An accident in eighth grade (where he unsuccessfully dodged traffic on the old I-90 bridge) dashed his hopes for a basketball career, but opened the door to a future in acting.

He attended Olympic Junior College in Bremerton, earning an associate's degree in acting, and later studied drama at the University of Washington.

Mr. Ray performed with several theater groups, including Black Arts West and the Group Theatre. He also performed at the annual Shakespeare festival in Ashland, Ore.

Besides acting, Mr. Ray pursued other interests such as hiking, rock climbing, singing, playing bass and working at Recreational Equipment Inc.

The hardest role for him to play, however, was that of a true-life AIDS patient, said his sister. For months, he denied that he had AIDS. Doctors remarked to Bailey that her brother must have been in serious pain, but he never asked for medicine.

Considering what she would tell people at the memorial service last night, Bailey said she wanted to convey that Mr. Ray had a rich life, and that by bringing his friends from his diverse interests together, he was passing on that richness to them.

"He was not interested in possessions. He was really tied to his connections with people and natural kinds of things," said Bailey. "His life was a lesson in what wealth really is."

A group of friends will hike up to the Chilean Memorial near Rialto on the Olympic Peninsula on Sept. 25 to scatter his ashes.