Long time resident, local businessman and Claremore Mayor
Biography
Ray Akin III was born on January 15, 1950 to parents Raymond Payton Akin and Muriel Peggy Bibby. Ray graduated from Claremore High School in 1968. As a child, Ray had a paper route that covered most of downtown Claremore and became friends with all of the local business owners of the day.
Following high school, Ray attended NSU and graduated in 1973 with a degree in business. He later attended OBU and obtained a degree in Health Management in 1975, an MBA from Oral Robers University in 1977 and then a degree from Oklahoma State University in University Studies in 2016. While at OSU, Ray earned recognition for a short story he wrote entitled, “The Death of a Gun.”
Ray took over ownership of the family business, Akin Plumbing in 1978. From 1995 to 1998, Ray served as Claremore’s Mayor. He successfully ran the business for 37 years before retiring and selling the business in 2015. In 2019, he published a novel entitled “Joeball”. Ray has happily married to Carol Jane Marshall for 52 years. They have two children, Payt and Joe. Ray stays in close contact with his fellow high school friends, Paul Pixley, Mike Shelton and C. Darnell Jones through their yearly get together.