Obituaries — Morris Gray
From The Boston Globe, April 18, 2020
GRAY, Morris Of Needham, MA, aged 73, died peacefully after a ten-year battle with meningioma. Affectionately known as Mo, he was born August 18, 1946 in Dedham, MA to the late Morris and DeeDee Gray. Mo graduated from Noble and Greenough School and Harvard College, where he was enrolled in ROTC and commissioned a naval officer in 1968.
He then served a 12-month tour aboard the USS Krishna, a swift boat repair ship anchored off An Thoi Island, Vietnam. He finished his service in 1971 at the Navy Recruiting Office in Boston, and entered the executive training program at the First National Bank of Boston (later Bank of Boston). From there he went to work on the municipal bond desk and later at Eagle Investments, the bank’s private wealth management arm. When the bank was sold to Fleet Bank, he moved to BNY Mellon where he continued his career in portfolio management for families and individuals, gaining the respect and affection of his clients for his candor and for his practical and personable approach. He retired in 2010.
A lifelong bachelor, Mo resided for more than 40 years in the same house in South Natick, reluctantly selling it and moving to Needham in 2018. He summered in the small community of Nonquitt in South Dartmouth, MA, and delighted in the extended family gathering (dubbed Grayfest) held every August. Mo was a capable sailor, an avid reader of English and Naval history, a casual if impatient golfer, a Rockefeller republican, and lover of a proper cocktail.
He was a member of the Dedham Country and Polo Club and the Somerset Club, and a longtime supporter of the Trustees for Reservation and the Rotch Jones Duff House in New Bedford. During the last ten years of his life he endured multiple neurosurgeries, radiation, and two experimental drug trials, which left him debilitated and disfigured but never took his sense of humor or his spot-on observations of life and people. He was adored by his dedicated and compassionate caregivers.
Mo was a devoted son, brother, uncle and cousin and a loyal friend to too many to mention. He is survived by his brothers Robert of Jamaica Plain and William of Southport, CT and eight nephews, nieces, grandnephews and nieces. Burial will be private. A Memorial Service will be held at a later date. Donations in his name can be made to Brain Tumor Center at Massachusetts General Hospital https://giving.massgeneral.org/donate/ Folsom Funeral Home www.folsomfuneral.com
From the A.D. Club (Harvard)
Morris Gray Jr. 1968 was a proud and active member of the A.D. following a long family tradition. Mr. Gray’s great grandfather, Morris 1877, served as Graduate president from 1908 to 1912 and wrote the speech that is read to all incoming members before the Annual Dinner. Francis Calley Gray 1912 is Morris’s grandfather and Morris Gray 1943 his father. Robert Forsythe Gray 1970 and William Gray 1974 are Morris’s brothers and current members of the A.D. Club. Morris ’68 served as Graduate Clerk from 1976 to 1978 and again from 1989 to 1994.
(thanks to Matt Schmid N65 for supplying this)