Ruth Frances Morgan Gray's Obituary
Ruth Frances Morgan Gray, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully in her sleep on June 5, 2012. She was born January 28, 1918, in Squiresville, Kentucky, to Arvon Thomas and Virginia Reeve Morgan, descendants of original settlers of Owen County, Kentucky. Ruth graduated from Owen County High School in 1935. She moved to Dayton, Kentucky for nursing school and earned a R.N. degree from Speers Memorial Hospital in 1938. After graduation she worked as a nurse for the Veterans Administration from 1938 until 1946. Initially she worked at the Veteran’s Hospital in Chicago and had decided she would see the United States by transferring hospitals every year or so. First stop (and last) was the Dallas Veteran’s Hospital. While working in Dallas she met her soon-to-be husband, O’Neal M. Gray. They married on November 3, 1941, and after he finished his DDS at Baylor Dental School, O’Neal joined the US Navy as a commissioned officer. They were sent to Parris Island, South Carolina, for training and then Ruth came back to the Dallas Veteran’s Hospital while O’Neal left to fight in the South Pacific during WWII. After the war, they started their family and Ruth retired from nursing to be a full-time mother. In 1947 daughter Peggy was born, followed by Kitty in 1949. They settled in University Park for the rest of their lives and were married for 62 years before O’Neal passed away in 2004. As a young wife Ruth enjoyed sewing, cooking, reading, bowling and traveling; she was active in Dallas Seratoma Wives, Dallas Dental Auxiliary, Emanon Book Club, Highland Park PTA, and poker and square-dancing clubs with O’Neal. However, her passion from the time she was a teenager was playing bridge. She played at least once a week, often more, for the next 80 years with all of her best friends. In 2004 through the American Contract Bridge League she earned the status of Life Master, an achievement of which she was very proud. Ruth was a member of Park Cities Baptist Church for 61 years and in her later life loved “going to church” each Sunday via radio at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband O’Neal, and her sisters Mary Virginia Morgan Munster, Kathleen Morgan Reed, and Margaret Anne Morgan Kemper. She is survived by her brother, A.T. Morgan; her daughters Peggy Gray Marks and Kitty Gray Morris; her grandchildren Jenni Marks Scoggins, Jake Marks and wife Beth, and Maggie Morris Fears and husband Gordie. She is also survived by six great-grandchildren: Jackson Scoggins, Johnson Scoggins, Ella Marks, Collison Marks, Caitlin Fears and Susan Fears. Visitation will be Friday, June 8, from 4-6 pm, at Restland Funeral Home and Cemetery. On Saturday, June 9, after a private family burial, a memorial service will be held at 12:30 pm at Wildwood Chapel on the grounds of Restland Memorial Park followed by a reception in the main building. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Highland Park Education Foundation (4201 Grassmere Lane, Dallas, 75205), Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church (9800 Preston Road, Dallas, 75230) or Park Cities Baptist Church – Virginia’s Closet (3933 Northwest Parkway, Dallas,75225).
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