Ray Alvin Gray Sr.

Ray Alvin Gray Sr., Smithfield, Pa.

     Ray Alvin Gray Sr., 97 of Smithfield, Pa. went to be with the Lord on Friday, July 28, 2023 at WVU Medicine, Morgantown, W.Va.

     He was born on July 16, 1926, son of the late Rev. Roy Logan Gray and Rose Swaney Gray. He was also preceded in death by his wife of 69 years, Anna Louise Wheeler Gray; daughter, Carol Ann Rahm, (Douglas Sr. and Douglas Jr.) and also his siblings, Walter, Ralph and Edwin Gray, Keturah Strouse and Floella Schaberl.

     Ray was a Mine Foreman at Duquesne Light, Warwick Mine for 20 years prior to his retirement in 1987. He was a proud coal miner with 40 plus years of experience, obtaining his Mine Foremen education at Penn State University in 1967. Ray and his wife owned Grays Confectionery (gas station and general store) in Haydentown, Pa. and also Grays Recycling near Smithfield, Pa. In his spare time he loved to farm, garden, trap, fish, taxidermy, morel hunt, was a very avid hunter who went hunting until the age of 96 with his son-in-law Tom. He proudly shot his last buck, an 8 point with an 18 inch spread at the age of 93. Ray was a member of the UMWA, Mountain Lodge and Elks Lodge # 370 in Uniontown, Pa.

     Surviving are his daughter and caregiver, Joy Lynn Williams (Tom Sr.), Holly and Tommie Jr. He also has a son, Ray Gray Jr. (Debbie) and Nicole; grandchildren, Jason Rahm and Cristina Myers (Ed) and numerous great grandchildren; nieces and nephews.

      The family will receive friends in the Dean C. Whitmarsh Funeral Home, 134 West Church Street, Fairchance, Pa. on Tuesday from 2:00 to 8:00 and on Wednesday, August 2, 2023 from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. The Funeral Service will begin at 10:00 a.m. with Rev. Kevin Roberts officiating. Interment will follow in the Swaney Family Plot at Maple Grove Cemetery in Fairchance, Pa.

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