Donald E. Raby II, CPA, CGMA, age 50, of Gladstone, Mo., died January 2, 2020.
Don was born February 12, 1969, in Kansas City, Mo., to June P. and Donald E Raby.
He grew up in Excelsior Springs and graduated from Excelsior Springs High School. He went on to attend William Jewell College where he earned a degree in Business Science. His aptitude for understanding numbers and accounting led to him become a highly successful CPA. He was CFO, and Vice President for PBA Health for the last 18 years.
Don was a strong God-fearing man, and devoted uncle. He was known for his fun-loving spirit and huge smile. He would light up any room he entered with his charismatic energy. He was an avid dog lover and had a soft spot for shelter dogs. His home was filled with love and the bellows from his beagles and basset hound. He was the world’s biggest Snoopy and Peanuts collector. He was a fan of the Missouri Tigers, Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and was an enormous supporter of the local arts. He enjoyed spending time with his family and friends, skiing in Colorado, and boating at the Lake of the Ozarks. He lived a life full of fun, passion, and excitement, and he will be dearly missed.
Don is survived by his mother, June Raby. Surviving family includes his uncle, Phil Haskins; aunt, Mary Lou Anderson; siblings, Marilyn (Ted) Stein, Vicki (Randy) Schillinger, Terry Raby, and Karla (Wayne) Smith; nieces and nephews, Steven Cridlebaugh, Scott Cridlebaugh, Neisha (Ted) Hadley, Heather (Ben) Sadler, David Lewandowski, James (Sherri) Holman, Ashley (Evan) Nichols, and Stephanie (Justin) Fisher; great nieces and nephews, Presley, Parker, Phoenix Holman, Ava Fisher, Carter Nichols, and Elliott Lewandowski.
He was preceded in death by his father, Donald E. Raby.
Visitation will be held at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 8, 2020, at Bross & Spidle Funeral Home, 217 W. Broadway St., Excelsior Springs, MO 64024. A graveside service will follow at 2 p.m. at Hillcrest Cemetery, where he will be laid to rest.
In lieu of flowers please send donations to KC Pet Project.
Our Sincere Condolences
As your birthday came February 12 and I wondered how you were so I googled your name today and came across this obituary. In disbelief, I cried. A man that brought me closer to God thru his numerous talks and helped me understand so much about faith. How do I get closer to God, I asked. Don replied; thru his Son, Jesus Christ. It has been almost 10 years since I’ve seen Don but it felt like yesterday the way my heart feels today. Until I see you again. Thank you for what you offered the people that surrounded you.
My deepest condolences to the family of Don.
Susan Sirocka
I found out tonight my best friend from kindergarten through high school passed away this past week. Donald Raby although the years have past, you’ll always hold a special place in my heart.
I’ll never think about growing up without thinking about your friendship…whether sitting in a corner for talking too much; playing whiffle ball hours on end; Showbiz pizza parties; watching the Miracle on Ice together; umpiring little league baseball; sweeping floors at Commercial Tooling; building club houses or Friday night shenanigans. RIP Donnie and thanks for the memories.
My condolences to June and the family. All my love and sympathy.
Duane Shumate
Karla, June, and family. My prayers are with you all. He was just a baby when we met and watching him grow up and to be a part of his life was a delight to me. Love and peace to all of you.
Joyce arie (Glasscock) Capps.
I worked For PBA for 15 years in various positions in Sales. Don was always very supportive of the Sales Department and me. He realized unless we sold something, nothing else mattered. Every time you saw Don, he had a smile on his face. If you were in a meeting, and Don thought something was funny, you knew it. Heck, everyone in the building knew it! What a great laugh. He will be missed by all. My deepest sympathies.
Ken Baker
I worked with Don many years ago at Graybar Electric and all these years later he is still spoken of fondly by associates and customers. In fact not long ago I was telling one of the managers who worked with us back then, that Donnie was the most dedicated person I ever worked with in my 37 years at Graybar.
I was in outside industrial sales at the time, and Don was my inside customer service representative. He called me and said he’d like to meet over pizza and beers to talk about about the coming year. When I got there he laid out a Marketing Plan. It listed what he felt were my strengths and weakness’ as well as his own, and specific things we each could do to improve. He also listed sales and profit goals, 30% over the previous year, along with action items for each of us. He concluded, there is no reason we can’t do this. Blew me away. Had never seen, nor ever saw again, that much dedication and passion from any support staff.
I accepted his challenge. I called it the Donnieapolis 500, made a poster with a race car and track, and charted each month how many laps(dollars) we were ahead or behind. We worked hard, had fun, laughed a lot, and surpassed all our goals. He was a Great Guy, a great team mate, I consider it a privilege to have known and worked with him.
Bill Oakman
Just wanted to express my deepest condolences to Dons family I knew Don when we were in high school and later on in life got to see him on a constant basis at a gym we both worked out ,he was such a balanced human being well versed in all attributes the makes a person successful which Don definitely was ,I just found out this weekend and I m sorry for your loss.
Bret Johnson
