Baker City, Oregon
Franklyn Isaiah “Frank” Gray, 77, a longtime Baker City resident, died March 1, 2001, at his home.
His funeral will be Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Baker City Seventh-day Adventist Church, corner of 17th Street and Pocahontas Road. Pastor Leon Cornforth will officiate. Interment will follow at Mount Hope Cemetery. Visitations will be today until 7 p.m. at the Coles-Strommer Funeral Home, 1950 Place St.
Mr. Gray was born Dec. 19, 1923, at Baker City to John Osborne Gray and Lurana Ann (Hall) Gray. His family homesteaded in the Baker Valley area and later moved to Hermiston and Pendleton. In 1946 the family returned to Baker, where Mr. Gray and his younger brother, Fred, began Universal Radio and Sound, a radio repair and recording studio business at 2260 10th St.
Mr. Gray met Muriel Dick in the summer of 1949, when she came to work as a nurse at St. Elizabeth Hospital. They were married in June 1950 at the Baker Seventh-day Adventist Church. Following their honeymoon, the couple moved to Spokane, Wash., where Mr. Gray worked as a radio technician. In 1956 the Grays moved back to Baker, and Mr. Gray founded Evergreen Radio & TV in the R.E. Wilson Appliance store at 1725 Main St. In the 1960s he and Fred formed the partnership of Gray’s TV at 1824 Main St., which they operated until the business was sold in 1985.
Mr. Gray was a 50-year member of the Baker Seventh-day Adventist Church, where he held many offices.
Mr. Gray is survived by his wife, Muriel, of Baker City; their children, Elizabeth Parker of Baker City, Rosalyn Patton of Portland, and Peter Gray of Las Vegas; three siblings, Almyra M. Walter, Fred Gray, and Bonnie Entermille, all of Baker City; four grandchildren, Nickolias Turner, Matthew Parker, and Donald and Daniel Gray; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, John Gray and Lurana Gray-Green; his stepfather, Charles Green; his older brother, John Riley Gray; a niece, Susan C. Gray; and a nephew, Stephen Gray.
Contributions in Mr. Gray’s memory may be made to the Baker Valley SDA School or the church parking lot fund, in care of Coles-Strommer Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, Ore., 97814.
Used with permission from: The Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, March 9, 2001
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor