Tribute

With sad hearts we say farewell to our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend. Gerald David Gray has departed this “mortal coil” peacefully, but not before living a long and full life. Gerald entered the world on May 16, 1928, and began to live his life as youngest of five siblings. Too young for the war effort, he got a job as a telegram bike messenger delivering the dreaded Red Star Telegrams. Then finally of age he finished school and headed for a 5 year ‘hitch’ in the Navy during the Korean War. In 1953 Dad married his beautiful Irish girl Kathleen O’Brien in Vernon BC. He began working in Trail at the Trail Times and there they started their family. Moving to Vancouver shortly afterwards he continued to work for newspapers: the Province and the Sun. Here, baby two, baby three, and baby four were born. At this point we were all northward bound to Powell River where we settled; Gerry became editor of the Powell River News in 1964. From there he went to work for MacMillan Bloedel as a Lab Tech and proceeded to do the things that interested him outside of his work schedule. Dad was active in and around his community, from writing the controversial column ‘Dateline Millsville’, to being very instrumental in the foundation of the Association for Community Living (now inclusion Powell River or iPR). He acted as president of that Association for 30 plus years, keeping the goal forefront. During that time he wrote and published a small but interesting book on that journey called “Help Our Children …Don’t Hide Them”. His duties even included a brief stint as Santa Claus at the Cranberry Children’s Center, looking so like Santa that his own granddaughter didn’t recognize him!! The Artaban Christmas Card Fund was set up to provide funds for the Association. It became a very successful and popular fundraiser. Several years ago, iPR hosted a gala event to recognize his decades of service. Most recently, iPR has initiated a drop-in program for seniors and named the venue “Gerry Gray Place”. From being the ‘Mystery Salty Dog’ for the Sea Fair treasure hunt to Council Member and Deputy Mayor, Gerald was involved in many aspects of this community. Dad had a keen and dry sense of humor and a vocabulary to match that he honed regularly on the New York Times crossword puzzle and by reading a multitude of books. He was a writer throughout his life and continued to author his memoirs and stories well into his late 80’s. He departed on August 28, 2021. And that man will be dearly missed by his wife Kathleen, his children Annette (Brian) Henderson, Danny (Kari) Gray, Chris Gray and Cathie (Robert) Sturam; and by his grandchildren Breah (Jeremy) and their son Levi, Zach (Kelsea) Gray, Addison Sturam, Sawyer Sturam, and Myranda Gray. He was predeceased by his granddaughter Brooke Henderson and by his siblings Margaret, Pat, Kathleen, and his brother Bill. The family wish to thank Chery Lynn Lefebvre for her loving care of Dad while he was still in community; Dr Rosseau and the nursing staff at ECU; his very good friends Malerie Meeker and Gauri Nair who kept up visits when possible. He had many friends and acquaintances collected through the years as he participated in so many different venues and groups. We will all miss him. At this point there will be no service; a celebration of life will be held at a later date.