Ray Spooner, Who Cycled Cross Country After ALS Diagnosis, Dies

An Urbana man who set out to cycle across the country last year after being diagnosed with ALS has died. 

Ray Spooner was injured on that ride, but was determined to finish. Last November, he dipped the front wheel of his bicycle into the Atlantic Ocean and crossed one more item off his bucket list.

Before the ride, Spooner said in an interview that he didn't know how to anything only half-way. "An extreme diagnosis calls for an extreme response," he said.

That extreme response helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for ALS research.

Spooner served for decades as a midwife and delivered more than 2,000 babies in the area.

He was 57 years old.