Jerry L. Gray 5420 Hillwood Drive Erie, PA 16509
Spouse:
Cheryl
Children:
Steven ‘94 married to Lori Southward Gray ‘94, Jennifer ‘97 married to Ben Douce ‘98
Grandchildren:
Darrick and Hayden Gray, Wyatt and Charlie Gray-Douce
I came to Otterbein in 1961 fresh from rural Pennsylvania. My first roommate left for Thanksgiving break and never came back; had I thought it an option, I might not have returned myself. I was pretty ill - prepared academically (and probably socially) for college life. Finally, however, I began to ease into the campus—joining Kings fraternity, the Chancel Drama Troup (under Fred Thayer), the Men’s Glee Club and serving as a resident advisor. Otterbein was good for me; it gave me some experience, some self-confidence and some knowledge to take with me into my future and the world. The year after graduation, I became an ambassador for the EUB church-at-large (Dayton, Ohio), traveling by train all over the country holding youth rallies and services. I went through Chicago numerous times and chose Evangelical Theological Seminary (now ETS/Garrett) to attend. There, on a shared campus with North Central College, I met and married Cheryl, who was a student and also the campus nurse. This was one of my better moves! In the successive forty years, I served as pastor to United Methodist Churches in western Pennsylvania: Riverview/Beaver Falls, Trinity/DuBois and Penfield, Bethany/Johnstown (where we all survived the ’77 flood), and Glenwood/Erie. Over the years, I have had many great experiences on mission work trips following natural disasters to such places as: Haiti, Dominican Republic, St. Croix, Louisiana (Katrina), Puerto Rico, South Carolina and Mississippi. I retired in 2004 after being privileged to spend the last eight years serving the 94 churches and 68 pastors of the Erie/Meadville District as their District Superintendent and guiding the Erie United Methodist Alliance (outreach ministries to the poor, the homeless, and disenfranchised veterans). In my retirement I serve two little country churches, Bethel and White Oak/Titusville; enjoy fly fishing with my family and friends in Wyoming, Montana and Pennsylvania; play basketball and occasionally try my hand at sketching and painting. Through Otterbein connections (both during my time on campus and throughout the years) I met Chuck ’65 and Marge Lengel Olson ‘65, Bernie ‘65 and Carol Hoffman Shuey ‘66, Dick ‘67 and Virginia Markle, Ralph Ciampa ’63, Frank Ciampa ’59, John ’70 and Patsy Schar Ciampa ’69, Alan ‘69 and Julie Gauch Harris ‘69, Howard ‘65 and Kathy Stanley Russell ’65—all who became life-long friends and/or associates in ministry. Along the way, Cheryl and I became the proud parents of Steven ’94 (Lora Southward ’94) and Jennifer ’97 (Ben Douce ’98). Most importantly, we are the grandparents of Darrick Gray, Hayden Gray, Wyatt Gray-Douce, and Charlie Gray-Douce.
God is Good!