These obituaries donated by: Tom Childers. A big thanks to him for donating!

Charles H. Gray, 82, died Saturday evening at his home at 1240 Baltimore Avenue.  A retired employe of The Shevlin - Hixon Company, he was a Bend resident for 30 years.

A native Oregonian, Mr. Gray was born Nov. 24, 1877, at Lostine, in Wallowa County.

He is survived by his wife, Sallie, at the home address: two daughters, Ladesca (Mrs. Elmer) Brown, Bend, and Willa Crockett, Tangent, and three sons: Arell H. Gray, Cathlamet, Wash.; Thorval Gay, Lostine; Berrell [Verell] W. Gray, Dillard.

There are 12 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.  He also leaves a sister, Mrs. Edna Mitchell, Union.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Heider's Funeral Home.  The Rev. Harriet Marling of True Gospel Church will officiate.  Burial will be in Deschutes Memorial Gardens.

E. Hughes Gray, a former resident of Union County, died Thursday, Dec. 24, in Vancouver, Washington.

He was born in Lower Cove, the youngest son of George M. and Mary Miller Gray. He was a graduate of La Grande High School.

He is survived by his wife, Etta; one son, Milton Gray of Los Angeles and one daughter, Sandra of San Diego; one brother, Ernest M. Gray of Woodburn, Ore.; two sisters, Eudelle Olson and Othella Purvine, both of Milwaukie, Ore.; many cousins in this area and one aunt, Mrs. Eugene Millering of La Grande.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday in Vancouver.

Former Union County resident, Ernest M. Gray, 84, of Woodburn, died Thursday at a hospital in Oregon City.

Mr. Gray was born March 18, 1903, in Lower Cove to George M. and Mary (Miller) Gray. He married Nellie Lemon on May 28, 1921, in La Grande.

Survivors include his wife; daughters, Mrs. Everett (Muriel) Ellis, Boise, Idaho, and Mrs. Ed (Darlene) O'Mahundro [sic - O'Mohundro], Silverton; sisters, Mrs. Eudelle Olson and Mrs. Othella Purvine, both of Milwaukie; five grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, one great-great grandchild; aunt Mrs. Eugene (Dillie) Millering, La Grande, three nieces and a nephew.

Mr. Gray had 37 first cousins, of whom 21 are still living. Several still live in Union County.

A brother, Hughes Gray, died earlier.

The funeral will be held Monday at the Unger Funeral Chapel in Silverton. Contributions in Mr. Gray's memory can be made to the People's Church, 4500 Lancaster Dr., N.E. Salem 97301.

Funeral services for the late George Doke Gray, a resident of Benton county for more than seventy years and member of a pioneer family, will be held in the DeMoss-Britt Mayflower chapel Friday afternoon at two o'clock. Rev. Edward B. Hart will officiate and interment will be in Oaklawn Memorial park.

Mr. Gray was the son of Joseph and Susan Means Gray and was born in Union county, June 11, 1872. The family came to Benton county in 1873 and in 1876 established their home on route two, Beaver Creek, where Mr. Gray made his home until retirement a few years ago. Mr. Gray possessed mechanical ability and in addition to his farming activities had engaged in carpentry. He was married to Alda Edna Gray, September 3, 1896. Mrs. Gray has preceded him in death.

Mr. Gray is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Virgil Frink, McMinnville, and one son, Glenn Gray of Portland. Three sisters, Mrs. Effie Rich, Ketchikan, Alaska, Mrs. Cora Porter, Drain, and Mrs. Otis Skipton of Portland, also survive. There are four grandchildren.

Death took another of Union county's respected pioneers yesterday when George Grant Gray died at his residence in Lower Cove at 2:15 o'clock in the afternoon.

Burial will be at the Summerville cemetery tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. The body will be at the residence from Monday evening until 1:30 p. m. Tuesday at which time it will be taken to Summerville where funeral services will be held.

Mr. Gray was born in Granger county, Tennessee, April 10, 1840 er's family, in 1853, first locating er's family in 1853, first locating near Corvallis. He came to Union county in 1871 and about 1873 purchased and moved upon the farm where he resided at his death.

He was married Feb. 22, 1874 to Sarah Sylvina Jasper who survives him. He also leaves seven children, three sons: George M., Joseph T. and Nathan T., and four daughters, Mrs. Sarah Conley, Mrs. Annie Miller, Mrs. Bessie Childers and Mrs. Dilly Millering, all residing in Union county: 22 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren besides a host of friends.

George Grant Gray, familiarly known as "Uncle George Gray, both to his own relatives and also to his many friends, died at his residence in Lower Cove, Union County, Oregon, July 22, 1928, at 2:00 P.M.

He was buried at the Summerville cemetery, Tuesday, July 24, 1928, where his father and mother, and a number of other relatives are buried.

The deceased was born April 10th, 1840 in Granger county, Tennessee. In 1847 the family left Tennessee with Oregon as their objective but stopped in Arkansas until the spring of 1853 when they resumed their journey with others across the plains. About the first of September of that year their 'train' of immigrants arrived at the Warm Springs at the place where the 'Oregon Trail' crosses the Malheur river and where Vale, Oregon is now located. At that point the train divided and a part of it consisting of the Gray and Taylor families with several other families diverged from the then known Oregon Trail and sought to travel what was then known and afterwards called the "Meeks Cut off" going through central Oregon, and over the Cascade mountains by way of the McKenzie river to Eugene. The rest of the train followed the Oregon Trail through what is now Baker and Union counties and over the Cascades by way of the Barlow Road. The Gray portion of the train then consisting of about twenty wagons proceeded west up the general course of the Malheur river to a point on Malheur lake near the mouth of the Silvies river.

From there, they went south of Malheur and Harney lakes an then turned north towards what is now called 'Crooked' river. In crossing the plains the Gray train, had no particular hardships but their trials came after leaving the Warm Springs. Out on the Oregon desert the train was at one time out four days without water for their stock and had only a small amount left in kegs for human use. After finding water they were again almost famished for want of water before they reached the Deschutes river about two days travel for their ox teams north of where Bend is now. After striking the latter river the train lay by for three or four days to hunt for the so called Meek's trail.

They found the blazes of the trail made by Meek near where Bend is now and again lay by and rested for three or four days The train then took its way up into the Cascade mountains and crossed well up on the south slope of the south of the peaks known as the "three sisters" and then down the middle branch of the McKenzie river to Eugene. The Gray family settled near Corvallis, Oregon. In 1861, the deceased George G. Gray, helped drive a band of cattle up the Columbia river in March to Eastern Oregon and on June 1st, of that year he arrived in what is now known as Lewiston, and which was called Lapwai, Idaho. From that time until in 1865 or about that time he was occupied in packing form Wallula and Walla Walla, Washington to the Idaho mines and mines in British Columbia.

During the winter of 1865-65, his pack train was snowed in and wintered at Deer Lodge near Helena, Montana. In 1865 he went to Boise, Idaho and engaged in supplying cattle to the butchershops, In 1871 or about that time he came to Union county and settled here. In February 1874 he was married to Sarah Sylvina Jasper who survives him. From their marriage until his death they lived upon the farm where he died.</p>
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He leaves surviving him to mourn his loss besides his wife, seven children, twenty-two grand children, and three great-grandchildren as well as a host of other relatives and friends. He was during his whole life known for his kindness and friendliness and at his home on the farm the latch string was always out. More than one person has reason to thank Uncle George Gray and his kindly family for a home, a place to sleep and something to eat during the days of adversity or illness and the stranger traveling on the road with no particular destination in view has with him found a stopping place for days and weeks with little cost or trouble to himself.

Many times has the writer of this short sketch stopped overnight with Mr. Gray and his family when his children were small and enjoyed the evening before the fire in the old fireplace and until well into the night talking of the events of the day, which at that time consisted generally of matters about the farms, the horses and cattle and on the writer's part answering questions bout members of his father's family. We will miss Uncle George Gray, the last with but one exception of the families of Robert Doke Gray and Elbert E. Taylor, who crossed the plains in 1853, and made the first crossing with wagons over the Deschutes river near where Bend is now. The other member of the two families mentioned is Hughes Taylor, who was at the time but a child and who was too small to remember the events of the trip. - La Grande News.

George M. Gray, 61, Alicel, who died of a heart attack at Wecoma, Oregon yesterday was born in Union county in 1881 and has lived here all of his life.

Funeral services will be held for him at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Snodgrass Funeral Home. Rev. Lester Carlsen will conduct the services, and burial will be in the family plot in the Summerville cemetery.

Gray is survived by his wife, Mary, and four children, Ernest, Beaverton, Oregon; Mrs. Eudelle Russell, Pocatello, Idaho; Mrs. Othella Purvine, Salem; and Hugh, Portland.

He is also survived by two brothers, Nate and Joe of La Grande; and four sisters, Mrs. Sarah Conley, Mrs. Anna Miller, and Mrs. Bessie Childers, all of Cove, and Mrs. Berdilla Millering of La Grande. He had four children and one great grandson.

George Merrell Gray, who came to Taft from La Grande, Oregon, for his health two months ago, passed away January 15th, at the age of 62 years. He was born March 18, 1881, in Union County, Oregon, and is survived by his wife Mary Alma, also four sisters, living in Eastern Oregon and two sons and daughters. Services were held at La Grande, Oregon, January 17th.

Joseph T. Gray, 74, service station operator of Rt. 1 La Grande, died this morning at his home.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Daniels Funeral Home with Rev. Boon White officiating. Burial follows in Island City cemetery.

Born at Cove, Mr. Gray had lived in Union County all his life. He was a member of Cove Lodge No. 91 AF & AM and the La Grande Elks.

Survivors are the widow, Mrs. Verda Gray of La Grande; three daughters, Mrs. Reba Laird, Mrs. Maiva Spray and Mrs. LaNita Buchanan, all of La Grande; a sister, Mrs. Eugene Millering, La Grande; and eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Mary Alma (Miller) Gray of Woodburn, a former resident of the Lower Cove area, died in Woodburn Jan. 4 following an extended illness. She was 89.

Funeral services will be held at Dempsey's Funeral Chapel in La Grande at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 7, the Rev. Cyril A. Stevens officiating. Burial will follow at the Summerville Cemetery.

Mrs. Gray was born in Union County Feb. 3, 1884, the daughter of George and Matilda (Conley) Miller. She was a member of the Baptist Church.

Survivors include two sons, Ernest of Woodburn, and Hugh of Vancouver, Wash.; two daughters, Mrs. E. C. Purvine of Salem and Mrs. Eudella Olson of Portland; a sister, Mrs. Georganna Chadwick of Cove; a brother, John Miller of La Grande; six grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, and 14 great-great grandchildren.

Nathan Taylor Gray, 65, a farmer in the lower Cove area, died at his home Tuesday morning, Nov. 5 after a heart attack.

Youngest son of the late George G. and Vina Jasper Gray, Union county pioneers, Mr. Gray was born at the old family home in lower Cove on Jan. 19, 1892. He had lived in Union county all his life.

Funeral services are to be held at Snodgrass Funeral Chapel on Saturday at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Murl Gassoway officiating. Burial will be in the family plot in Summerville Cemetery.

A trustee of Calvary Baptist church at Cove, Mr. Gray had been active in the church all his life. He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers and two sisters.

Survivors include the widow, Ada Houx Gray, Cove; sons Donald of Pendleton and Aldon, who operates the family ranch; and a daughter, Mrs. Robert (Delda) Smith, La Grande.

Three sisters and a brother also survive. They are Mrs. Sally Conley, Cove; Mrs. Bessie Childers and Mrs. Dillie Millering, and Joe T. Gray, all of La Grande. There are also 21 nieces and nephews surviving in addition to other relatives and many friends.

Nellie Frances Gray, 91, formerly of Union County, died Tuesday, May 25, 1993, of natural causes in Spanaway, Wash.

A funeral service will be held Wednesday at Unger Funeral Chapel in Silverton. Interment will follow in Belle Passi Mausoleum in Woodburn.

Mrs. Gray was born Sept. 25, 1901, in Lenox County, Iowa, to George Washington and Alice Mae Wiley Lemon. The family moved to Lyndon, Wash., when she was very young. Her father died there when she was six, and her mother moved the family to Union, where she received her education. She married Ernest Merrell Gray on May 28, 1921, at the home of Dillie and the late Eugene Millering of La Grande.

She was appointed post-mistress of Alicel in November 1933 and resigned in August 1939. She and her husband farmed for many years in Lower Cove, and owned and operated laundries in Salem and Vancouver, Wash. In 1956 they moved to Santa Clara, Calif., where she worked at Santa Clara University until she retired in 1968. In 1971 they returned to Woodburn, where they lived until her husband's death on Dec. 31, 1987.

Survivors include her daughters Muriel Ellis of Boise and Darlene O'Mohundro of Silverton; sister Flossie Green of Bend; grandsons T. J. Calvin of Priest River, Idaho and Nathan Calvin of Boise, Idaho; granddaughters Frances King of Silverton, Erna Jacobsen of Roy, Wash., and Julie Magill of Mount Angel; twelve great grandchildren; nine great-great grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband, those who died earlier include five brothers, four sisters and a great grandson.

REDMOND - The funeral for Sallie Inez Gray, 93, will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Niswonger-Reynolds Chapel, with burial in Deschutes Memorial Gardens.  The Rev. Howard Heimbuch of the Four Square Gospel Church will officiate.  Mrs. Gray, of 517 W. Birch in Redmond, died Sunday at a local nursing home.

She was born to Charles and Sarah Bridwell Hamilton on March 20, 1884, in Alicel, Union County, Ore., and had come to Central Oregon in 1929.  She had been a cook at the Altamont Hotel, the Sisters Hotel and the East and Crescent Lake resorts.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles H., in October 1960.

Survivors include five children: Arell H. Gray of Kelso, Wash., T. G. Gray of Lostine, Ore., V. W. Gray of Sutherlin, Mrs. Marion Crocket of Brothers, and Mrs. LaDesca Brown of Redmond; 12 grandchildren and several great grandchildren.

Mrs. G. G. Gray, 84, died at her home in Lower Cove Sunday morning after a long illness.

Sarah Sylvina was born to Merrell and Nancy Jane Jasper Aug. 11, 1855, near Corvallis. She was the second child and eldest daughter of a family of eight. At the age of 13 she moved with her parents to the Grande Ronde valley and settled near the home where she lived her entire married life.

Two years after settling in eastern Oregon, the mother passed on, leaving the responsibilities of the family to Sylvina.

On February 22, 1874, she was married to George Grant Gray who preceded her in death 12 years ago. To this union ten children were born, three of whom preceded her in death. Survivors include three sons and four daughters: George M. and Nathan T. of lower Cove, Joseph T. and Dillie Millering of La Grande, Mrs. Sarah Conley, Mrs. Anna Miller and Mrs. Bessie Childers of Cove. One brother, George M. Jasper of Meridian, Ida.; and aunt, Mrs. Martha Lewis of Portland; 22 grandchildren, besides other relatives also survive.

Mrs. Gray had spent 71 of her 84 years in the Lower Cove neighborhood. She was a member of the Baptist church for more than 30 years.

Funeral services will be held at the Summerville chapel at 2:30 p. m. Tuesday. Rev. Howard Smith of Seattle, an old friend of the family, will conduct the service. Snodgrass Funeral home will have charge of arrangements.

Verda O. Gray, 103, a lifetime resident of the Grand Ronde Valley, died Wednesday, Nov. 18, at a foster care home run by Dave and Brenda Hickey in Perry.

A funeral service will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Daniels Funeral Chapel of the Valley, 1502 Seventh St., with the Rev. Tim Overton-Harris of the La Grande United Methodist Church officiating.  Private interment will be at Island City Cemetery.

Mrs. Gray was born June 5, 1895, in Elgin, to William and Hulda Ohms.  She went to school in Elgin, graduating from high school in 1913.  She married Joseph T. Gray on Sept. 22, 1914, in La Grande.  He died in 1963.

The Grays owned and operated a service station.  She also worked as a clerk for J. C. Penney's and as a receptionist for Dr. Ferdinandsen's veterinary clinic.  She was a member of the United Methodist Church in La Grande, and she had belonged to the Cherry Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star in Cove.  She enjoyed hunting, fishing and bowling.

She is survived by a daughter, Reba A. Laird of La Grande; a sister, Helen Chandler of La Grande; six grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren, and eight great-great grandchildren.  Two daughters, LaNeta Buchanan and Maiva McFerren; two grandsons, and three sisters, Margaret Wiles, Nellie Gurley and Gladys Chadwick, died earlier.

Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of choice in care of Daniels Chapel.