Birth Born on November 18, 1952 in Artesia, Los Angeles Co., CA Death Died on August 12, 2018 in Gilbert, Maricopa Co., AZ Buried in City of Mesa Cemetery in Mesa, Maricopa Co., AZ Marriages WENDT, Christianne Married on June 27, 1975 in South Kensington, Montgomery Co., MD Children GRAY, Shannon Dawn: February 16, 1977 GRAY, Brianne: July 13, 1979 GRAY, Casey McKenzie: 1981 GRAY, Whitney Erin: 1984 GRAY, Tess Elizabeth: June 14, 1987 GRAY, Caitlin Jane: April 09, 1989 GRAY, Hannah Claire: March 10, 1992 Notes Occupation: Manager of a McDonald's/ Martin-Marietta/ McDonnell-Douglas/ Digital Equipment/ Novell Co. Death: Pancreatic Cancer Obituary: Gary Lee Gray was born November 18, 1952 in Artesia, California. He was the second child of Donald and Selma Gray. He has two sisters, Lynn Ann and Sandra. Gary met Christianne Wendt (a Young Adults' success story!). Since she was heading to BYU in a matter of weeks, he wanted a ring on her finger. On December 30, 1973, he called from California (while on Christmas break) and proposed over the phone. She said yes, then went to BYU for the semester, and Gary went to sea. At the time, midshipmen were not allowed to be married so their engagement was a year and a half! Gary graduated in June of 1975 with a degree in Marine Transportation, on a Monday and he and Christianne were married in the Washington, D.C. Temple that following Friday on the 27th. Almost immediately after graduating from the Academy, Gary and his bride moved back to his home state of California and took a job as manager of a McDonald's, then moved onto Arby's and Wendy's as two precious girls, Shannon and Brianne joined the family in February of 1977 and then July of 1979. After Wendy's he got a job at Martin-Marietta at Vandenberg AFB working on breathing air system for the first space shuttle. While working at Martin-Marietta he would hang out in the large computer room during downtime which fueled his interest in computers. Wanting to jump into the computer industry, Gary found a job with McDonnell- Douglas (McAuto) which relocated them to New Jersey. While in New Jersey, they welcomed their first and only son, Casey in July of 1981. Gary was thriving in his new vocation and while at a computer show was offered a position at Digital Equipment Corp which moved them to Massachusetts and in May of 1984, Whitney came along. Another move back to California, this time with four kids in tow, in January of 1985 where he took a job as Director of Operations of a McDonald's. Tess arrived in June of 1987 and not long after Caitlin made her debut in April of 1989. After McDonald's, Gary got back into the computer field at a company in San Luis Obispo called Computer Land. He enjoyed being a shopkeeper so much that he gave it a go at owning and operating his own store which he named Software Source. And last but not least, Hannah was the last bundle of joy to arrive in March of 1992. After twelve years in California, Gary and his family of nine, moved to Gilbert, Arizona. Shortly after moving in, Gary worked in the IT department at Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management. He then moved on to Novell and then Altiris as a networking consultant. While on the road, working for Altiris in Delaware, Gary suffered a heart-attack, pushing him into early retirement. After his recovery, he was just as interested in computers and gadgets as ever before and now he had the time to tinker and create. The family grew as children were married and grandchildren were born. He was a doting Papa to his twelve grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Family always came first. He loved his sweetheart Christianne and his children. Five weeks after being diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer Gary Gray passed away peacefully on Sunday morning, August 12, 2018. Service Date: 08/18/2018 Service Time: 11:00 AM Service Location: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 230 N. Val Vista Dr., Gilbert, Arizona Interment: City of Mesa Cemetery Sources Obituary: Gilbert,AZ August 2018