Orma GRAY

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GRAY: Orma Jean, May 15, 1931-June 18, 2018.Weeping may spend the night,but there is joy in the morning.Psalm 30Just before midnight on June 17, 2018, our lovely mother slipped the bonds of this life to begin her journey Home. She had recently celebrated her 87th birthday. Her loss is shared by friends and family, including her children, Avis Gray and husband Bill McDonald; Arvel Gray and partner Murray Parker; Sheldon and Shelley Gray and children Lacey, Braxton, Jamie, Samantha and husband Tim Dornn and daughter Estella; and Neal and Lora Jaye Gray and children Alexa and Harrison. Also mourning her loss are her brothers Bob McTaggart; Wallace and wife Audrey; sister Catherine Rogers; sisters-in-law Elva and Joyce McTaggart; extended family and numerous nieces and nephews from the Gray and McTaggart clans. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Harry Gray in 1977; her friend and companion, Irwin Radke; her parents, Marie and Jack McTaggart; her brothers Roy and Neil; brother-in-law Don Rogers and her nephew Glen Rogers; and brothers and sisters-in-law Campbell and Lily Gray and their daughter Edith, Herb and Iris Gray, and Ken and Tina Gray. Orma was born into a large and loving family of Scottish and Irish decent. A child of the Depression, her parents said she was the only good thing that happened to them that year. She spent her formative years on the farm near Glenboro, Manitoba, learning the value of hard work and the importance of neighbours and community. Those lessons would become a lifelong banner for our mother who spent countless hours with 4-H locally and provincially, was a contributing member of the churches in Cromer and Virden, and a facilitator and organizer for school and district events. After high school, she received her teaching diploma from Normal School in Winnipeg and taught at Lake St. Martin, Birtle and at Sanderson School just outside of Cromer. She called the one room schoolhouse “a little bit of Heaven,” a title no doubt prompted by the fact that the community is where she met our father, whom she married in 1953. Together, they raised four children and managed the family farm until Harry’s untimely death in 1977. Her nurturing of others continued as a surrogate mother to exchange students, as a foster parent to children overseas, and as a steward for young adults with intellectual disabilities. She was a gifted gardener and could take any struggling specimen and nurse it into a botanical wonder. Her lawns were legendary and her perennial beds flourished with favourites like gladiolas, roses and delphiniums. She was a splendid cook and baker. After school we would arrive home to a kitchen fragrant with apple pies or cinnamon buns; every Christmas she would mail care packages of butter tarts and shortbread to her bachelor uncles, and throughout the summer the canner would be humming with batches of peaches, chokecherry jelly and mustard pickle. She never lost her love for learning. She took courses in public speaking, writing and religion, and her bookshelves were stocked with volumes on politics, faith and the foibles of humanity. Her search for knowledge included travel throughout North America and jaunts to England, Europe, Israel and Africa. Our mother seized life and viewed it as a precious gift; she was a champion of the disenfranchised and a stalwart supporter of friends, community and country. She was witty, positive and practical, even to the end, finding strength and courage in adversity when most might wither or surrender. Special thanks to Dr. Kansara and Dr. Law for their outstanding care, as well as to the staff at Brandon Regional Health Care Centre, and to friends and family who brought her joy and affection. A celebration of her life will be held on Wednesday, July 25, 2018 at 1:30 pm at St. Paul’s United Church, 286 Nelson Street West, Virden, Manitoba, with English High Tea to follow in the church basement. Former Cromer United Church minister Reverend Paul Campbell will officiate, with Carscadden Funeral Chapel, Virden, in charge of arrangements. If desired, in lieu of flowers, memorial tributes may be made to Cancer Care Manitoba or to the Brandon or Winnipeg Food Banks. Messages of condolence may be left at www.carscaddenfuneralchapel.com

As published in Brandon Sun on Jun 30, 2018