The dining room at the Whitesboro Whataburger was full last Thursday morning as friends and family gathered for a surprise birthday celebration for 98-year-old Ray Prestage.
Prestage was born Feb. 13, 1927 in Woodbine, Texas. He was the middle sibling in a family of five children. Although his father passed away when Ray was 10, his mother lived to the age of 99 ½.
After graduating from Gainesville, Prestage enlisted in the Navy where he fought in the last part of World War II. Upon his return home, he began a career in the oil industry as a driller, eventually becoming a contract pumper. He finally retired in 2014 at the age of 87.
Prestage has spent his whole life in the Whitesboro area. He has three children (all of whom graduated from Whitesboro); seven grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
Prestage was married to his first wife for nearly 80 years before she passed away in 2018. Soon after, he started going to Whataburger for breakfast each morning. There he met several other people who were doing the same thing. Over time they all formed a friendship, and now the group meets at Whataburger nearly every day at 10 a.m.
In 2023, during one of these gatherings, one of the group members introduced Prestage to a Whataburger employee named Peggy, who had recently taken the job after a late-in-life divorce. Prestage eventually asked Peggy if she would be his companion, someone to have dinner with and go on outings together. The two began seeing each other, and last year, Ray asked Peggy to be his wife. The two have been happily married for nine months.
They enjoy playing Canasta, going shopping, visiting MegaStar and WinStar casinos, driving in the country and visiting family.
Ray still drives himself, lives independently, cuts his own firewood and, just a few years ago, took an impromptu trip to Las Vegas. He had a brush with celebrity when, while raising English Bulldogs, he once sold a puppy to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Ray always makes fudge at Christmas for his family, and each morning he reads his Bible (which he has now read cover to cover 37 times).
“Ray is an amazing man,” Peggy said. “He doesn’t take naps; he doesn’t slow down. He’s like the Energizer Bunny!”
Although she no longer works at Whataburger, Peggy knew it would be the perfect place for the birthday celebration. She planned the surprise under the guise of their daily breakfast with friends. The restaurant provided balloons and allowed Peggy to bring cake and cupcakes. But party plans hit a bump when the guest of honor unexpectedly decided he’d like to skip the Whataburger breakfast that day.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Peggy said. “We had people here from all over – family came from Utah for this! Luckily, his granddaughter worked some magic and got him to come. He was really surprised!”
Ray received cards, gifts and lots of handshakes and hugs.
When asked what it’s like to live such a long life, Ray said, “I was born in the Model T days. Cars didn’t have radios or heaters. I’ve seen a lot of changes in my lifetime. I don’t have a secret to a long, happy life, but I have lived by the motto of doing honest, hard work.”
