Ray Strahl

Ray started his banking career in 1971 after serving a two-year tour of duty in Viet Nam with the U.S. Army flying with a medevac team. He attended the University of Illinois and the American Institute of Banking in Chicago and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management and is the 11th person in the history of Arizona to graduate from the MBA equivalent Leadership and Life Institute.
Ray has spent over 30 years as an institutional banker with First of Chicago and VP at CitiGroup and the last 20 years as a Vice President of Business Development for a large Arizona based mortgage lender and with Mortgage Power, Inc., an award-winning, Veteran owned Mortgage Broker for over three- and one-half years. He is also a Certified Continuing Education Instructor in Arizona. Ray has been an active Affiliate member of WESERV for several years and was the 2014 Affiliate Chairperson. He has also been named 2014 Toastmaster of the Year for WeMar-Kable Speakers and was the 2015-16 Chair of the WESERV Motorsports Group and received the WESERV Affiliate Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. He served from 2017-2020 as a Director on the WESERV Board of Directors and is Past President of the VAREP (Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals) Board of Directors Phoenix Chapter and served as Vice Chair on the Personnel Board for the City of Glendale. He is involved in charity organizations helping Veterans and advocating for Veterans housing rights. Ray is also Vice President of the Lutheran Hour Ministries Grand Canyon District Board of Directors and is also an Actor and Movie Producer and appeared in several of Michael Jason Allen feature films. Ray and his wife Diana of 25 years are longtime members of Life in Christ Lutheran Church in Peoria.