CAMDEN — Frances Gray
Frances Smead Gray of Camden, Arkansas, died January 3, 2020, at home, in Camden. She was born March 29,1921, in Camden, to Lamar and Beatrix Smead.
She attended Cleveland Avenue School, and graduated from Camden High School in 1939. She attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where she was a member of Chi Omega Sorority, and The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. From 1942 to 1943, Frances was employed by Wiggins-Marden Aero Corporation, a Primary Cadet School in Camden.
In 1943, she married Lieutenant George Albert Gray of Mendham, New Jersey, in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Selma, Alabama. When Major Gray returned to The States from combat tours in The South Pacific, the couple made their home in Camden until 1962.
Frances and George had two children: Lamar and Mary Jane. After leaving Camden, the family lived in Ada, Oklahoma, and New Orleans, Louisiana, before settling on The Mississippi Gulf Coast, in Pass Christian and Gulfport.
Frances was an Episcopalian. She was a member of Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Camden, and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Gulfport.
She was preceded in death by her husband of sixty-two and a half years, and a sister- in- law, Gloria Gray of Mendham. She is survived by her children, Lamar Smead Gray of Gulfport, and Mary Jane Gray of Camden; a daughter-in-law, Susan Gray of Gulfport; two granddaughters, Meggan Stolarski and husband, John and Kristen Miller and husband David; and three great grandchildren: Austin Stolarski, Avery Stolarski, and Aiden Stolarski, all of Gulfport.
Frances was associated with Gray’s Furniture Galleries in Gulfport, thirty years, until she retired and returned to Camden in 2017.
Proctor Funeral Home in Camden is in charge of arrangements. A graveside service will be held at 10:00AM Friday, January 10, 2020, at The National Cemetery in Biloxi, with The Reverend Stephen Kidd of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church officiating. www.stmarksgulfport.com
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Saint John’s Episcopal Church, 117 Harrison Ave., NW, Camden, AR 71701; stjohnscamden.org or The Ouachita County Historical Society, 926 Washington Street, SW, Camden, AR 71701; www.ouachitacountyhistoricalsociety.org