Ray W. Brown, a former vice president of Mobay Corp., died May 7. He was 79.

Mr. Brown, who lived in Mt. Lebanon and, later, Upper St. Clair, was born in Painted Post, N.Y., on April 19, 1929. After graduating from high school in 1947, he enrolled in Princeton University, obtaining a degree in history in 1951.

From there he entered military service as an officer in the U.S. Navy, with a tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea. Upon his return, he entered Cornell University Law School, graduating in 1958. He began his law career in New York City, with the firm of Chadbourne & Parke, where he worked for eight years before moving to the Buffalo, N.Y., firm of Saperston and Day.

In 1967, Mr. Brown moved to Pittsburgh to work for the Blaw-Knox Corp. He was there only a brief time before accepting a position as assistant general counsel with Westinghouse Electric Corp. Continuing his rapid ascent, he signed on with Mobay in 1975 as general counsel and secretary, and became a vice president there in 1978.

After retiring from Mobay in 1990, he worked two years as special counsel to Eckert Seamans Cherin and Mellott.

Mr. Brown was highly active in civic life as a director for the American Red Cross, the Wesley Institute and Music for Mt. Lebanon. He was also an elder and trustee in the Southminster Presbyterian Church, and was a founding director of the Southminster Child Care Center.

His son, Robert, remembered Mr. Brown as "dedicated to the service of others and very generous with his time and his resources for a wide variety of causes.

"He was a person who was very at ease with himself and very at ease with others of all levels, from corporate chairmen down to workers."

He also described his father as so meticulous that he once planned a car trip from Buffalo N.Y., to Yellowstone Park "stop by stop."

Mr. Brown's love of travel also took him to Egypt, China and Kenya, among other locations.

In addition to his son, Mr. Brown is survived by his wife, Jeanne; a daughter, Margaret Wucher of Upper St. Clair; a sister, Virginia Smith of Silver Spring, Md.; and three grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at Southminster Presbyterian Church, 799 Washington Rd., Mt. Lebanon at 4 p.m. today. Friends will be received in the Fellowship Hall of the church following the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Red Cross, 225 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or Southminster Presbyterian Church.