Former president and CEO of Ewing Outdoor Supply Ray York dies

Raymon Alan “Ray” York, former president and CEO of Ewing Outdoor Supply, passed away Jan. 24, 2024, after a brief illness. He was 86.

York was born August 4, 1937, in Wichita, Kan., and grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho. He and his wife and business partner of 63 years, Susan “Sue” Ewing York, met at Stanford University in the spring of 1959. The pair welcomed twin sons, David and Douglas, in 1961 and younger son, Richard, in 1963.

In December 1963, they went to San Francisco to take over Ewing’s daily operations from King William Ewing, Sue’s father and the company’s founder.

In 1985, Ewing began implementing his plans to expand operations outside California, opening its first branch in Phoenix. In 1994, Ewing relocated its headquarters from San Leandro, Calif., to Phoenix to better support its Eastern expansion.

In 2007, Ray and Sue officially turned over the reins of Ewing to their sons and moved over to Ewing’s manufacturing arm, Landscape Products, where Richard joined them in 2017. They officially retired in 2023.

Ray had a longstanding membership and past chairmanship of the National Association of Wholesale Distributors and his membership and past presidency of the Irrigation Association. In 2007, the California Landscape Contractors Association honored Ray and Sue with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their contributions to the industry. In 2012, the Irrigation Association honored Ray and Sue with Industry Lifetime Achievement Awards for their 50 years of contributions to the green industry.

Ray is survived by his wife, three children and their spouses, six grandchildren, one great-grandchild; and his sister, Marjorie Crosby.