Employee Spotlight
Meet Ray Shelley
Employee Spotlight December 2025
A Neiman’s employee who is retiring at the end of the year, who loves jeopardy and would some day like to be on the show…
Who is Ray Shelley?
Ray has been our Tawas store director since July of 2017 when he joined our team with a life time of grocery experience. The store and its team have grown and floursished under his leadership including his proudest moment in Tawas, a record setting 4th of July sales! The family atmosphere and no day being the same as the last are some of what he enjoys the most but his favorite part is the different people he works with and meets at Neiman’s Family Market!
Ray and his wife Lori live in Rose City where they raised two children and now have 4 grandchildren. Growing up in West Branch, Ray enjoyed playing with his Hot Wheels, summers at the lake skiing and wanted to be police man when he grew up. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is his favorite cereal, as Ray says “Is there anything better?” but he stays away from Saurkraut, “yuck”, and the weirdest thing he has ever eaten is octopus. If he had one meal for the rest of his life it would be…cheeseburgers, possbily with what might be the oldest thing in his refrigerator, some condiment his wife Lori just had to try. Though Ray does say that he can’t live without ice cream.
When Ray finds time to read or watch movies, he reads Darkets Night or watches Midway, the old version, although his favorite line “It’s not rocket surgery” is from Mystery Alsaska. If he could switch lives with any cartoon character it would be Peter Griffin from, Family Guy, that seems like an ideal fit to us, Ray is a real family guy himself. The best place Ray has traveled to date is the Western Carriabean where he and Lori had a great adventure with friends, his next dream vacation would be to Alaska. A few more things about Ray; he really enjoys playing golf and his favorite sport is football, while his greatest fear is flying. The first concert Ray attended was Jefferson Starship and Night Ranger and he has always wanted a camero so if he wins the lottery that will be the first thing he buys.
We asked Ray to pick three words to describe himself; “dedicated, sportsnut & family”. We at Neiman’s could not have picked better words. Ray has done amazing things in Tawas for the store, for the team, for the community and for all of us. Ray has been a dedicated, skilled leader in Tawas that made not just that store but our entire company better with this vast knowledge and experience.
Thank you Ray for everything you have done and we wish you nothing but happiness and joy in your retirement adventures!!