August 27, 2014 10:00 a.m.
The Rev. Neil Irvin Gray
1918 – 2014
A memorial service to celebrate and give thanks for Father Gray’s life and ministry will be held Saturday, August 30, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. in St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Fernandina Beach, Florida
Photo courtesy of Florida Memory Project
The Rev. Neil Irvin Gray, “Father Neil,” pastor, mentor and friend to thousands of parishioners and students in northeast Florida for seven decades, died in the peace
of God at the age of 95.
Born in Tyrone, Pennsylvania on July13, 1918, to James Edward Gray and Alma Rency Knudson, Neil knew in high school that despite his interest in engineering, he wanted to serve the church.
The first in his family to go to college, after attending Bard College he graduated with a degree in Philosophy from the University of Virginia and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He attended General Seminary in New York, was ordained in Pennsylvania in 1943 and married Elizabeth Whitehead (Princess Anne County, VA). He enlisted in the army as a chaplain, serving in the Pacific and Japan, and in Germany during the Korean War.
Father Gray spent most of his pastoral life in Florida in Lake City, Fernandina and Jacksonville Beach, and as an interim at Fort George. His ministry included four
years as Education Director of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida that included directorship of Camp Weed. He also served as an education director in Larchmont NY
and, following graduate work at the Chicago Theological Seminary of the University of Chicago, at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Peoria IL. Shortly before retirement from the pastoral ministry in 1985 he began a second career teaching at the University of North Florida where a scholarship exists in his name.
His wife Elizabeth predeceased him. He is survived by his daughter Elizabeth Gray
(MacKay), by his cousin Gloria Novack (IL), her daughters and their families, and by
his nieces (daughters of his wife’s sister Susan Byars) and their families.
Father Gray saw the heart and the call to care as the essence of being human. He found the words of the great mystic Julian of Norwich resonating in the final days of his life, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” He shared his wisdom freely and without judgement. He was still
leading three book clubs at the time of his death.
A memorial service to celebrate and give thanks for Father Gray’s life and ministry will be held Saturday, August 30, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. in St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Fernandina Beach, Florida, where he was rector emeritus. All who remember him or his legacy are warmly welcomed to this occasion of appreciation for his life.
A reception in the parish hall will follow the service.