The St. Joseph community lost an outstanding citizen when Anne Reed Gray passed away Jan. 13, 2014. She will be fondly remembered by many organizations in the community as an active volunteer and an advocate for many important causes. Her family established an endowed scholarship fund for Missouri Western students in her memory.
The scholarship is for students in the arts, including, music, art and theatre.
“The arts were mom’s passion and her background,” said her son, Pete Gray, CEO and President of Gray Manufacturing. She earned more than 42 credit hours from Missouri Western, which were mostly in painting classes. She also took art lessons from local artists and won many awards in local art shows. In 1995, she helped Al Kost ’32 paint the mural in the St. Joseph Junior College Room in the Blum Union.
“She loved painting in oils, and some are hanging in our building (Gray Manufacturing) today,” said her husband, Joe Gray.
Starting an endowed scholarship in her memory is fitting, because she and her husband helped many Missouri Western students with college expenses over the years. Pete Gray said they wanted to establish a scholarship for his mother, but the employees at Gray Manufacturing suggested it be an endowed scholarship. The family, Gray Manufacturing employees, friends and community members have all contributed to the scholarship fund.
Joe and Anne have always been supportive of Missouri Western. In fact, the initial meeting to talk about fundraising for the Glenn E. Marion Memorial Clock Tower now on campus was held in their home.
Anne Gray volunteered for the League of Women Voters, Cathedral School PTA council, Audubon Society, First Presbyterian Church, Meals on Wheels and at the food kitchen.
“She was a believer in being publicly active in the things she supported,” Joe said. “And if she believed in something, she put her whole heart and soul in it.”
Pete said as active and involved as she was in the community, she was a great mother to her eight children. “In our neighborhood, our house was the place to be,” Pete said. “When we sat down to eat, we always had neighbor kids eating with us.”
“She also had a lot of little traditions with the holidays that I continue with my kids today,” he added.
Anne grew up in Philadelphia. She met Joe when he was in the Navy and she was dating his friend. The friend set Joe up on a double date with Anne and him, and it didn’t quite work out as the friend intended.
They married in 1947 and moved back to St. Joseph in 1952 to co-found Gray Manufacturing with Joe’s father, Joseph Herman Gray.
She and Joe were married 66 years when she died. She is survived by eight children, 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
To contribute to the Anne Reed Gray Memorial Arts Scholarship, contact the Missouri Western State University Foundation at (816) 271-5647.