In Remembrance: Philip H. Gray Jr. ’54 Died on July 17 2024

Philip H. Gray Jr. passed away on July 17, 2024, in his beloved Greensboro, Vermont, where his family has had a summer home for 100-plus years. 

After earning his BA from Yale in 1954, he married Hazel Burton. He then completed an MA at Columbia in 1956. Following two years in the army, and the births of daughter Margret and son Philip Burton, Phil joined the Department of State's Foreign Service, becoming an accomplished speaker of Arabic—a skill he honed during posts in Beirut, Lebanon (where daughter Ellen was born); Baghdad, Iraq (where Phil served as an economic officer, and son Bruce was born); and as a political officer in Amman, Jordan. 

Following the family's return to the States in 1967, Phil continued with government service, working briefly for the Office of Economic Opportunity before moving to the Office of Pesticide Programs of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

After 30 years in the federal government, Phil retired, moved full time to Greensboro, and joined the nonprofit sector as a part-time administrator for an association of state pesticide regulators. He married Janet Birrell Travers in 1999. 

He was a regular platelet donor, which involves a somewhat more complex procedure than simple blood donation, and was veryproud of the fact that over the years he donated more than 100 gallons of platelets. He was active in many area organizations and in 2018 he, along with his wife Janet, won the Greensboro Award, given for outstanding community service.  

—Submitted by the family.