WORCESTER - Ray Lauring believed it was his mission to help build the church both spiritually and physically.
Lauring’s volunteerism and philanthropy helped many Catholic causes and the construction business he founded 75 years ago, Lauring Construction, built and renovated several Catholic churches as well as many Catholic college and high school buildings.
The longtime devout parishioner at Christ the King Parish also founded the first Catholic radio station in Worcester, Emmanuel Radio in 2011.
Mr. Lauring died at the age of 97 at his home in Worcester on Friday Sept. 1, after suffering a heart attack.
Former Emmanuel Radio president Cindy R. Dorsey said Mr. Lauring once told her that the mission to build the church here on earth begins with the first stone, the foundation.
“So he always believed, him being in the construction business,” Mrs. Dorsey said, “that God was having him help build the church, not just spiritually, but actually the literal foundations of churches and places. So he took that mission very seriously.”
After Mr. Lauring retired, his sons took over the business and they continued to seek construction projects at Catholic institutions. John Lauring, the company’s president, estimated that a quarter of Lauring Construction’s business involves Catholic causes.
One of Mr. Lauring’s early construction jobs was building St. Francis Xavier Church in Bolton in the early 1950s. Another was constructing the rectory at Christ the King Church in 1961 and connecting it to the church with a bridge room. The church had opened in 1958, replacing one that had opened in 1936. Mr. Lauring became a parishioner when the original Christ the King Church opened. He was 11 years old and his family changed parishes from Blessed Sacrament Church.
Lauring Construction built St. Jude Church in Leicester, completed the construction of St. Joseph Church in Charlton and performed a major renovation of St. Rose of Lima Church in Northborough. The company has also handled construction projects at St. Mary in Shrewsbury, St. Mary in Jefferson, Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Sweden and Our Lady of Lourdes parishes.
In addition, Lauring Construction built two classroom buildings at St. John High School, built the gymnasium and an addition for a cafeteria and renovated the Carriage House into a classroom building at Notre Dame Academy, constructed five academic buildings at Assumption University and built additions to the gym for a weight room and to a dorm, and constructed the athletic administration building at Anna Maria College.
“Anytime the Catholic church wanted to build something,” said Mr. Lauring’s son, Mark, “he wanted to do it because it enabled the Catholic church to complete their mission.”
“I think he felt he could do a better job,” John Lauring said, “a less expensive job and so that benefited the church too. We’re dedicated to those kinds of organizations.”
Mr. Lauring also felt more passionate about construction projects that benefited the Catholic church.
“He was very friendly, very, very warm and friendly,” said Monsignor Thomas Sullivan, pastor at Christ the King. “Always a good word for you, always, ‘Good to see you’ sort of thing. He loved being around the church and church things, all the activities of the church. That was his life.”
After he retired, Mr. Lauring devoted his energy toward starting Emmanuel Radio, the first Catholic radio station in Worcester.
“He really felt that God was telling him to get a radio station in Worcester County so that’s what he went out and did,” John Lauring said.
“Unintentionally, it became his legacy in many ways,” Mrs. Dorsey said. “He discerned and prayed over it for a long time. He knew as a disciple he had to complete a mission for God on this earth. So he was focused on bringing the message of God to the people in the area here. He was such a faithful Catholic man that this became one of his major purposes on earth. I told him many times that he will never know the people that he saved and the souls that he saved through that mission that he accepted from God.”
In 2021, Lauring merged Emmanuel Radio into The Station of the Cross Catholic Media Network based in Williamsville, N.Y., to ensure a brighter future.
“He was extremely intelligent,” Mrs. Dorsey said, “he had the energy of 10 racehorses, he was a slight Italian man with a huge purpose. He was hard working. He always knew what was right and what to do in his family life, his business and his faith.”
All of Mr. Lauring’s sons and grandsons attended St. John High and all of his daughters and granddaughters attended Notre Dame Academy or Holy Name High School.
A caretaker drove him to church each morning and sat with him near the front of Christ the King Church on the left side just behind the piano used by the choir director.
“He always had to sit there,” Christ the King parishioner Janet Rauktis said, “because he said he wanted to make sure the organist or the piano player was doing everything right.”
Mr. Lauring was joking when he said that.
“He always knew how to make people laugh,” Mrs. Rauktis said.
Mr. Lauring did his best to attend Mass every day at Christ the King or Blessed Sacrament and if he did miss Mass, a family member, Mrs. Rauktis or Msgr. Sullivan would bring him Communion. When he wintered in Ocean Ridge, Florida, he attended daily Mass there as well.
After each Saturday morning Mass at Christ the King, Mr. Lauring, Mrs. Rauktis and a few others went to breakfast afterward, usually at Theo’s in Paxton.
They went the Saturday before he died and Mrs. Rauktis picked up the tab. Mr. Lauring said he would pay for everyone the following Saturday, but he died the night before.
Just before that Saturday morning Mass, Msgr. Sullivan learned that Mr. Lauring had died the night before. That Mass didn’t have an intention so Msgr. Sullivan offered the Mass for Mr. Lauring.
“As I announced it,” Msgr. Sullivan said, “I could see that people were in shock. He’s been just a fixture here, everybody is going to miss him.”
Religion meant a lot to Mr. Lauring, but he also enjoyed other things, like playing softball.
“But that’s a religion too,” Mark Lauring joked.
He began playing softball during the winters in Florida and formed a senior softball league at Worcester State University. He went on to play for a team composed of players from various states and contributed to five Senior World Series championships. In 2008 he was named Most Valuable Player of the Senior World Series. That 2008 tournament was for players under 80 years old, but each team could have one player older than that. Mr. Lauring was 82.
“He was the oldest guy on the field and he won MVP,” Mark Lauring said with pride.
The modest Mr. Lauring didn’t display the MVP plaque on his mantel.
“We found it in the attic,” Mark Lauring said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it,” John Lauring said.
Mr. Lauring received honorary degrees from Assumption University and Anna Maria College, and was an honorary graduate of St. John High School. He received the Knollwood Award from Notre Dame Academy and the Family Award from Matthew 25, which provides housing to families in need.
Each year, Mr. Lauring attended several fundraising banquets, including those for Celebrate Priesthood for retired priests and the Visitation House for young mothers in need.
For many years, he donated all the books and pamphlets about spiritual readings on the bookshelf in the vestibule at Christ the King.
Mr. Lauring is survived by his children Mark Lauring and his wife Susan, John Lauring and his wife Kathy, James Lauring and his wife Ann, and Maryanne Seibold and her husband David, a son-in-law Timothy Kennedy, 23 grandchildren and 46 great grandchildren.
He was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, Claire E. (Ledoux) Lauring, his parents, Anthony and Linda Lauring, and his daughter Lisa Kennedy.
He was a veteran of the U.S. Army Air Corps and a graduate of Wentworth Institute of Technology.
He was a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem and a founder of Visitation House. He volunteered with St. Vincent de Paul, Calvary Retreat Center and Worcester State Hospital. He served on the Board of Directors for Commerce Group, Inc., Southgate of Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury Nursing Home, Colony Retirement Homes and Salisbury Nursing Home.