Raymond Edgar Tompkins

Raymond Edgar Tompkins, beloved husband, father, grandfather, friend, attorney, and devoted servant of his church and community, passed away peacefully early in the morning on September 4, 2026, at the age of 92, just as a beautiful dawn broke over the horizon.

Ray was born in Oklahoma City on July 13, 1934, to Charles Edgar Tompkins and Eva Mae (Hodges) Tompkins. Oklahoma was his home throughout his life, and the values he learned there—hard work, loyalty, faith, responsibility, and service—became the quiet foundation upon which he built his life.

Ray attended Old Classen High School and Oklahoma State University, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1956, and later received his law degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1963. He went on to become a highly respected Oklahoma City attorney whose legal career spanned more than three decades. He practiced with several prominent Oklahoma City firms, ultimately becoming a shareholder at Conner & Winters. He was admitted to practice before courts throughout Oklahoma and the federal judiciary, including the United States Supreme Court.

To those who knew him professionally, Ray was a skilled lawyer, thoughtful counselor, and accomplished mediator. In the later years of his career, he devoted considerable energy to mediation and arbitration, helping people resolve difficult disputes with the wisdom and patience that had characterized his own approach to life. He served in leadership roles within the Oklahoma Bar Association and the Association of Attorney-Mediators and was honored for his contributions to the legal profession.

But Ray’s life was never defined by his profession alone.

He was a rare man of so many parts in his prime anchored by brilliant and profound sense of humor that made him wonderfully hilarious to those he held dearest.

He was a gifted impressionist and cartoonist, a cinema and history buff, a voracious reader and ridiculously literate, a profound thinker, storyteller and raconteur.

He also believed that with earned privilege came very real responsibility. A veteran of the United States Army Reserve who attained the rank of major, he carried a lifelong commitment to service. He served on the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Commission, including as chairman, and gave generously of his time to civic, professional, and community organizations.

Ray's faith, and his walk with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, was the TRUE foundation of his life. Ray was a devoted member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City for well over six decades, and gave many years of service to the church, including leadership roles with the Oklahoma Annual Conference. For Ray, faith was not simply something to profess; it was something to live. He believed in showing up, accepting responsibility, helping others, and leaving things better than he found them.

And then there was his family, which remained at the very heart of his life.

Ray married his childhood sweetheart, Sue Anne Sharpe, on June 10, 1963 in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado at the Church Of The Wildwood. Their marriage began a partnership that would span more than 66 years and together they raised their beloved son, Matthew Stephen Tompkins.

Ray's greatest pride was not found in the courtroom or in the honors he received, but truly in his family and all the incredible memories they created and experiences they shared in the life they relished together.

Ray was, without question, a man of substance rather than show. He was dependable. He listened carefully. He gave considered advice and expected people to do their best. He valued a handshake, a promise kept, and a person who could be counted upon when it mattered most.

He was also a friend in the truest sense of the word. Over the years, he formed countless friendships through his long law practice, early military service, his beloved church, his ceaseless civic activities, and Old Classen classmates he excitedly reconnected with later in life. A great many people will remember their conversations with Ray, his thoughtful observations, his unfailing sense of humor, his generosity, and the unmistakable feeling that when he asked how you were doing, he genuinely wanted to know.

An extraordinary life of 92 years leaves behind more than accomplishments and dates. It leaves indelible stories, hard won lessons, invaluable relationships, irreplaceable traditions, and precious memories that will be carried forward by all those who loved him most.

Ray’s legacy will absolutely live forever in his children and family, in the dear friends who knew him well, in colleagues he mentored and worked beside, in the many institutions he served, and in the countless people who benefited from his counsel and kindness.

He leaves behind a deeply realized life of quiet distinction—a life shaped, above all, by family, faith, service, integrity, and friendship.

Ray was preceded in death by his beloved son, Timothy, and is survived by his wife of 66 years, Sudie Tompkins, his three children Matthew, Chris, and Kay Anne, his four grandchildren Luke, Lily, Lauren , P.J. and great grandchild, James, and his younger brother Charles.

He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by his family, and forever a part of all the many lives he touched.

Memorial services will be announced soon and held at St. Luke's United Methodist Church Methodist Church.