EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Ray Decker, Class Of 1993

Ray Decker, a 1993 alum of Evergreen Park Community High School, has bounced around a bit. Both around the United States and in various career fields. But now, he’s settled in, loving life in the Pacific Northwest as an orthopedic technician.

Decker vividly remembers his time at EPCHS, specifically the energy surrounding the successful Mustang football and wrestling teams of the era.

“Both of them were doing great my junior and senior year, and it created a great sense of community amongst us and the school,” Decker, who competed in both sports at EPCHS, said. “A strong feeling is attached to those memories. Makes me happy when I look back on it.”

Football and track coach Tim Weber “was a definite mentor for me,” Decker added.

“He sat down and had heart to hearts with me a few times about life and the future,” he said, adding that football coach Brett Nelson and wrestling coach Mike Kladis also had a positive impact on Decker’s time as a student.

Decker earned a degree in exercise science at Northern Illinois University, and worked in fitness and health care for a bit before finding himself unemployed due to the economic collapse of 2008.

That’s when he started an eight-year run as a bartender, first working for Fox’s Irish Pub in nearby Oak Lawn, but then branching out to a log cabin resort in Idaho, a beach bar in Los Angeles’ Venice Beach and a Native American casino in San Diego.

“I definitely ran the gamut in that industry,” Decker said. “But I always knew it would be temporary.”

At age 40, Decker decided to get back into sports medicine.

“I broke my hand falling off my bicycle while coming back from surfing one day,” he said. “I watched the ortho tech cast my hand and thought it was really cool. The doctor came in and talked to me and realized I had some knowledge in orthopedics. He wrote down the school name that offered the orthopedic technician program and told me I should apply. A few months later I was moving from Los Angeles to San Diego to start school.”

That degree led Decker to taking on his current role in Portland, Oregon, with Rebound Orthopedic & Neurosurgery, where he works mainly on bone fractures as an orthopedic technician.

“I splint and cast fractures, do wound care, suture care/removal etc.,” Decker said. “I also do the bracing and manage the medical equipment and inventory for the office I work at.”

“I always tell people who ask what I do that the ortho techs are like the worker bees for our clinic. Anytime any patient needs anything done they bring them to the cast room for us. Casting fractures is my main duty. It would shock you to know how many people a day break a bone.”

Rebound Orthopedic & Neurosurgery handles all orthopedic care for the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team. The clinic location where Decker works is actually inside the Moda Center, the stadium for the Blazers and minor league hockey team Portland Winterhawks.

“If a player needs a cast, custom splint, brace or anything I am there to help them,” Decker said. “We are on site so during games if any player needs an MRI or Xray they can just come right to our office. It's a great perk going to NBA and minor hockey league games right next to my office.”

Since 1998, Decker has lived in Los Angeles twice, San Diego twice, Idaho, and back home in Evergreen Park for a period. He moved to Oregon for the ortho tech job without ever having visited the state, but knew he would love it.

“I really like to dig in and learn everything about a place when I move there,” Decker said. “The beauty of the Pacific Northwest is unparalleled. It was always on my bucket list as somewhere to live for a while.”

When he’s not working, Decker spends most of his time “exploring the 4x4 backroads in the mountains with my pup, Tiki.”

“I also like to head to the coastal mountain range with Tiki to do some backwoods camping followed by a sunrise surf somewhere along the Oregon coast.”