Florence Florine “Flo” Gray departed this earthly life at home with her daughter by her side on May 21, 2023. She was born on January 27, 1931, to the late Nellie Gray Bannister in Surry, VA.
She was educated in the Surry County Public School System. Flo was a very hardworking independent woman. She was a caregiver for twenty years, a domestic engineer, and worked at Eastern State Hospital and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation until retirement. She was a Mount Pleasant Baptist Church member, where she regularly attended until her health prevented her from doing so.
She loved dancing and attending baseball games with her friends Mary Moore, the late Orene Ratcliffe, and Rosa Lee Bartlett. Flo loved and adored her daughter and grandchildren. She enjoyed traveling, taking rides with her daughter to Surry, going out to eat with her family, and watching her great-great-grandchildren enter the world who gave her the new nickname “Flo Flo.”
She was preceded in death by her brother, James “Jimmy” Gray, and great-granddaughter, Chakayla “Kayla” Spurlock.
She leaves to cherish a lifetime of love and precious memories with her only loving and devoted daughter, Marie Gray; loving granddaughters, Lisa Brown, Leslie Spurlock (Tanaka), and Latrelle Brown; loving great-grandchildren, Lamesha Walker, Gregory Walker (Crystal), Courtney Brown, Chakira Spurlock, Cynese Spurlock, Xavier Phillips, Ja’lynn Brown, and Kaiden Brown; great-great-granddaughters, Midori Walker, Aubrianna Brown, Amira Lipscomb, Layla Walker, and A’nyse Lipscomb; aunt, Cora Jones; uncle, Frank Gray Sr.; and a host of nieces, nephews, bonus grandchildren, other loving relatives, and friends.
A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, May 27, 2023, at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church. Ms. Gray may be viewed on Saturday beginning at 12:00 p.m. until the hour of service in the church. The interment will be private at Cedar Grove Cemetery at a later date. Facial coverings are recommended for all services.
