Ormal Edward Gray

Ormal Edward "Ed" Gray, 88, of Grants Pass, OR, passed away on April 6, 2022.

He was born in Abingdon, Illinois, on June 10, 1933. He was preceded in death by his parents Rex and Cleo Gray of Abingdon, IL. He married Lillian Marie Smith from New York City in 1957 and she passed away in 2007.

Surviving are his two daughters (Princess and Allison) three sons (Ronald, Brian, and Craig), two grandchildren (Alexis and William), and one brother Larry.

Ed Gray graduated from Valparaiso Technical Institute majoring in electronics, and also completed other courses at Western Illinois and the University of Illinois.

After serving in the Army during the Korean War as an electronic specialist, he returned to the Abingdon area to work with his father and a company in Galesburg repairing radios and Televisions. Later he returned to New York City, where he had been previously stationed in the Army, to work in the electronic industry and where he met his future wife. After marriage he accepted an employment opportunity in California where he lived and worked most of his life. He had a very successful career as an electronics aerospace engineer and in marketing with such companies as Rockwell and Boeing. Some of the electronic products he invented, or helped develop, were used in the NASA Space Program so his work sometimes found him at such locations at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Georgia and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

As a hobby, Ed enjoyed writing poetry, and in his later years he enjoyed traveling across the country with his son, Craig Scott Gray.

Most recently he was co-owner of The Pink Pig Boutique in Grants Pass, OR with his son, Craig and their friend, Michael.

As he requested, cremation will be accorded and private services will be held for the family.