L. Austin Gray Obituary (1947 - 2015)

Waterville -- L. Austin Gray, Jr. of Waterville, Maine, passed away on March 21, 2015. He was born in Wesley, Maine on March 11, 1927, the son of Roger A. and Minerva Sharman Gray. He was named after his grandfather, Leander Austin Gray. Austin attended public schools in Wesley and Northfield. He was a 1945 graduate of Washington Academy in East Machias, Maine, where he served on the yearbook editorial staff during his senior year. Shortly after graduating from Washington Academy, Austin joined the U.S. Army on June 27, 1945, and in early in 1946 he was stationed in Germany as part of the Army of the Occupation. After his military service, he returned home to Wesley and worked on the family farm, continuing in the family business of blueberries, gravel and pulpwood and helping his aging parents as best he could. Austin enjoyed local history and genealogy work. He remembered and wrote down oral histories of the families and the local area, which he heard from his father and grandfather. He researched and abstracted local historical information from old Machias newspapers and old deeds. He was a member of the Alexander-Crawford Historical Society and the Wesley Historical Society, generously contributing his research to them. He assisted in putting together a History of the Town of Wesley. Austin had a large correspondence with many people about the Gray family and extended family throughout the United States and Canada, and was generous in sharing his family history research. Over the years, people would come to Wesley looking for information on the Gray family or other families from the area, and would be sent to see Austin. In 2004, Austin moved to East Vassalboro to be closer to his siblings and extended family. He later moved into The Woodlands assisted-living facility in Waterville, Maine, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was predeceased by his parents and a brother, Allen S. Gray of East Vassalboro. He is survived by his brother, James W. Gray of North Vassalboro, sisters Agnes Diffin of Waterville and Maxine Robbins of East Vassalboro, sister-in-law Prudence Gray of East Vassalboro, cousins, and several nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. A graveside service will be held later in the spring at the Methodist Cemetery in East Vassalboro, Maine.