After 73 years, Cpl Ray Kirby Lilly will be laid to rest in his beloved mountains of West Virginia. Known as Kirby to his family, he was born on January 19, 1933. The only son of Lake and Cordy Lilly and brother to four sisters, Eva Barker, Norma Hamm, Carol Louise Roland and Patricia Smith.
Kirby joined the Army at 17, before the Korean War broke out, and spent four months of basic training in Fort Knox, KY.
He was then sent to Korea with the 1st Calvary and began fighting the invading North Koreans. On November 2, 1950, the Battle of Usan began, and his battalion was eventually surrounded and overtaken by the Chinese Army, who were new to the fight. Reports indicate that Kirby's unit fought until their ammunition ran out. Those that could walk were taken prisoner and thus the beginning of untold hardships.
He was eventually housed at Prison Camp 5 and it was reported that Kirby died February 28, 1951, and was buried by his fellow POW's. That marked the end of any known whereabouts of Kirby until October 1, 2023, when the Army contacted his family to report that he had been identified using DNA, and that he had been buried as a Korean War unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the "Punch Bowl", in Hawaii since February 1956. In February 2024, Army representatives met with the surviving family to give a detailed report of his decades long journey home.
While he was missing in action, in addition to his parents, two sisters, Eva Barker and Norma Hamm, and a nephew, David Thompson, died. He is survived by sisters, Carol Louise Roland and Patricia Smith;
Two nephews, Phillip Hamm and Michael Smith, and two nieces, Dr. Rhonda L. Hamm and Andrea Smith Fleming. Four great-nieces,



Morgan Thompson Tabor, Dr. Alexandrea Smith Berry, Lilly Fleming and Merrit Fleming and two great-nephews, Evan Smith and Jacob Smith.
The family would like to offer a special thank you to nephew Phillip Hamm for starting the process of identification by research, reaching out to the Army and submitting DNA back in 2010.
A military funeral service will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at 11:00 A.M. in the Chapel of Memorial Funeral Directory. The Honorable Judge Omar Aboulhosn will deliver the eulogy and Bishop Fred Farley will officiate the service. Cpl. Ray Kirby Lilly will be interred with full military honors at Roselawn Cemetery near his parents. Visitation for family and friends will be from 10:00 until the service hour at the funeral home.
Online condolences may be shared with the family via www.memorialfd.com.
The Lilly family is being served by the Memorial Funeral Directory and Cremation Center on the Athens Road in Princeton.