Frederick Wilson ‘Fred’ Gray, 70, a resident of Colechester Road in the City of Virginia Beach, died at 9:45 a.m. on Thursday, March 3, 2016, surrounded by his wife and close friends. He fought a long, painful battle with sarcoma caused by Agent Orange exposure when he served in Vietnam as a young officer from 1969 to 1970.
Born October 19, 1945, at Chelsea Naval Medical Center, Charlestown, Suffolk, Mass., to the late Fred W. Gray and Marjorie Rose (nee Jacobs), he was the middle of three children. While attending Princess Anne High School, he turned his energy toward sports, where he excelled in pole vaulting and football, graduating in the Class of 1964 when he was the co-captain of the football team that won the state championship. Some of his teammates have kept in touch for 50 years, such as Butch Seery, Ben Hubbard, Craig Honour, Charlie Carr and everyone’s best friend, James C. ‘Jim’ Clarke, who has been like a brother to Fred.
Fred attended Guilford College in North Carolina on a football scholarship and graduated in 1968 with a B.S. in economics. Following graduation, he joined the USMC, where he attended Officer Candidate School at Quantico and deployed to Vietnam, where he served a year in Motor Transport. For his service in Vietnam, he was presented the Navy Commendation Medal for meritorious service.
After the service, Fred returned to Virginia Beach, where he met and married Diane K. Mason on August 10, 1974, in Chesapeake. Interested in sports and youth, Fred combined his interests and worked for the Boy Scouts of America and subsequently for the Boys Club in Norfolk. He helped to open and manage the Boys Club facility in Virginia Beach near Mount Trashmore.
When his father-in-law, Douglas F. Mason, became ill, Fred masterfully took over management of the family business, North Bay Shore Campground. There he met many wonderful people, sometimes four generations of family campers, and he became friends with many, who have become his extended family.
Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Diane Mason Gray; his mother, Marjorie Rose (nee Jacobs) Clukey (Roger) of Vero Beach, Fla.; a brother, Richard A. Gray (Sheila) of North Las Vegas, Nev.; a brother-in-law, Douglas Y. Mason of Lenoir, N.C.; a niece, Mary Hume Hickerson Gouch (Charles) of Norfolk; a nephew, Michael A. D’Annolfo (Alicia) of Rockport, Mass.; and twin nieces, April Mason Harris (Tony) and Samantha Mason Beckham of Lenoir, N.C. He is survived by nine grand-nieces and nephews, Bryan Mullis of California; Wesley Orman of Virginia; Daisy Beckham and Darren Mason of North Carolina; Easton, EmmaGrace, and Ella Kate Harris of North Carolina; and Trevor and Kaitlyn D’Annolfo of Massachusetts.
Fred was very close to his mother-in-law, Dolly (Higgerson) Mason; and his late father-in-law, Douglas F. Mason; as well as the family of the late Raymond Clarke, and his wife, Christine, of Somerset, N.J., with whom Fred lived during summers in college. Fred’s father, Fred Wilson Gray, died on January 9, 1991, in Lompoc, Calif.; and his sister, Patricia Lee (Gray) D’Annolfo, died November 14 1991, in Stoneham, Mass. Fred’s beloved pet Maltese, Bianca, died on July 31, 2015, which saddened him immensely, but the arrival in November 2015 of a new Maltese puppy, Button, entertained and comforted him during his illness.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, in the chapel at Smith & Williams Funeral Home, 4889 Princess Anne Road, Virginia Beach. The cremains will be interred in Rosewood Memorial Park at a later date.
The family requests that memorial donations be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center or a charity of your choice. Please make checks to MSK, PO Box 27106, NY, NY 10087; or go to their website, www.giving.mskcc.org, to make a secure donation online.
There are too many people to thank for all they did during Fred’s three-year illness, but the family especially recognizes Sonny and Sherry Alicie of Linden; Elsa and Thayne Parr of Virginia Beach; Fred Weigle of Virginia Beach; Debbie (Gray) Stillwagen of Chesapeake; Regina B. Butler of Virginia Beach; and Charles Pefley of Virginia Beach for their exceptional support during this difficult time. Not to be forgotten, we thank the Virginia Beach Sentara Hospice House nurses, Dr. Anne Reddy and the caregivers from SeniorCorps, all of whom helped make this time less painful for Fred and his family.
Fred will be remembered for his smile, good humor, selfless love, and kindness to all. He loved his family, friends, and country. Semper fi.
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