AUBURN — William Ray Rochester, 78, of Auburn passed away on Tuesday, September 30, 2014, at DeKalb Health in Auburn. He was born on January 26, 1936, in Easton, Illinois, to William 'Bill' and Nelda (Bartles) Rochester. Ray attended elementary school in Forest City, Illinois, and high school in Manito, Illinois. He was a Caterpillar Foundry apprentice, then worked for Dana Corp. and Auburn Foundry in Indiana, where he retired. Ray did consulting work for Metal Technologies and others in Indiana post retirement. He enjoyed reading, traveling to six continents including the Greek Isles, and inventing new products for the auto industry. Ray was granted a U.S. Patent for centrally gated cast metal rotary friction plates and method of manufacturing in July of 2010. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Joyce (Thompson) Rochester of Auburn, Indiana; a daughter, Cynthia (Tony) Golden of Caro, Michigan; two grandsons, Greg Golden of Nashville, Tennessee, and Michael (Erica) Golden of Munger, Michigan; a granddaughter, Melissa (John) DeVantier of Appleton, Wisconsin; five great-grandchildren, Michaela, Brady, Ella, Samuel, and Lucy; three brothers, Dale (Bonnie) Rochester of Pekin, Illinois, Larry (Cheryl) Rochester of Marquette Heights, Illinois, and Ron Rochester of Decatur, Illinois; two sisters, Eleanor Gosnell of Pekin, Illinois, and Kathy (Stan) Embree of Manito, Illinois; and two sisters-in-law, Wanda Schmidgall of Lakeland, Florida, and Mary Jo Thompson of Geneva, Illinois. He was preceded in death by his parents; a nephew, Mick Rochester; and two brothers-in-law, Paul Gosnell and Daryl Thompson. Funeral services will be held Friday at 11 a.m., with visitation two hours prior from 9-11 a.m., at Pinnington-McComb Funeral & Cremation Services, 502 N. Main St., Auburn. Memorials are to the Wounded Warrior Project. Burial will be in Meadow Lawn Cemetery, Manito, Illinois. To sign the online guest book or to leave a message of condolence, visit www.pinnington-mccomb.com.