Haines, Oregon
Erma L. Gray, 74, of Haines, a former longtime Forest Grove resident, died April 17, 2001, at St. Elizabeth Health Services.
Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Forest Grove Memorial Chapel at Forest Grove. Pastor Art Mentzer will officiate. Concluding rites and interment will be at the Forest View Cemetery in Forest Grove.
Gray’s West & Co. is in charge of local arrangements.
Mrs. Gray was born May 13, 1926, at Spokane, Wash., to Oscar and Maude Pearl Johnson Coombes. As a young girl, she moved with her family to Oregon, settling in the Baker City area where she lived and received her education. After high school, she attended Pacific University at Forest Grove, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in 1949.
While attending Pacific University, she met William Clifford “Cliff” Gray in her chemistry class. They were married in November of 1947 at Forest Grove.
After their wedding, they made their home in the Forest Grove community until 1991, when they moved to the Baker City area. Mr. Gray died on March 15, 1996. The couple had been married for 48 years.
After raising her six children, Mrs. Gray worked as an adult caregiver for 15 years until June of 2000. She was a member of the First Christian Church at Forest Grove and later was a founding member of the Cornelius Christian Church. Since living in the Baker City area, she was a member of the Baker City Christian Church.
Among her interests, Mrs. Gray enjoyed making jewelry, reading, quilting, gardening, baking and traveling, especially overseas. She volunteered many hours with senior citizens. She enjoyed studying her Bible and taught Sunday school for many years. She loved her family and always enjoyed spending time with all.
She also was preceded in death by her father and her first child, Jean.
Survivors include two sons and a daughter-in-law, Franklin Gray of Muncie, Ind., and Joseph and Anita Gray of Phenix, Ala.; three daughters and sons-in-law, Sandra and Jose Garcia of Forest Grove, Carol and Michael Pelky of Nevada and Rebecca and Joseph Larrimore of Forest Grove; her mother, Maude Coombes of Haines; five brothers and sisters-in-law, Donald Coombes of Haines, Ben and Doris Coombes of Stanfield, Jasper Coombes of Richland, George and Perry Coombes of Seligman, Mo., and Ed and Elise Coombes of Winchester, Idaho; and a sister and brother-in-law, Jabudah and Al Grossmiller of Baker City; eight grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Lung Association of Oregon, 9320 S.W. Barbur Blvd., Suite 140, Portland, Ore. 97219 or to the Ninos de Mexico (Children’s Orphanage), P.O. Box 309, Union, MO 63084.
Used with permission from: The Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, April 30, 2001
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor