DRESDEN – Patricia D. Gray, a local artist of the Boothbay area, and resident of Dresden for the past 14 years, passed away at the Gregory Wing at Saint Andrews Village on May 11, 2005. Born in New York City, June 15, 1923, she was the daughter of Daniel E. and Martha Nash Donovan, both of Harrington. Both families were early settlers in the area, and the Nash family was involved in building and captaining ships up until the 1940s and ’50s. Mrs. Gray lived in New York until she was eight, when the family moved to Baltimore area. She studied art at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and at the Maryland Institute of Fine Art. She attended Western Maryland College in Westminster, Md., where she majored in Art. She was offered the college, its first ever one-man art show. While still a student herself, she taught art for a brief period at Western Maryland collage. After graduation, she taught at a private school in Forrest Park, Md. Early in her career she wrote and illustrated a children’s book, Alexander and did a pictorial study of Tennyson’s “Knight of the Round Table” for Sparrows Point High School English Department, Sparrow Point, Md. Following the death of her father, she moved to Wiscasset. She married Carroll E. Gray of Boothbay in 1956, and moved to his residence in Boothbay. She was a member of the Congregational Church in Boothbay Harbor. Mrs. Gray was an accomplished artist whose painting were shown and sold not only in galleries in the Boothbay Region and numerous galleries in Maine, but elsewhere in the U.S. and in Canada and England as well. As her paintings reflect, she was very interested in nature, and had a great love and respect for animals and plant. Her specialty was in painting her flowers. She worked closely with the Boothbay Art Scholarship Foundation at its inception. One of its purposes was to implement a credited art courses in the school. After several years of a very successful weekly art activity period, an art course was indeed added to the curriculum. The Grays shared their home with many cats and occasional dogs. For a number of years they kept cows and chickens, as well as having as horses, at the riding stable and working farm they owned in Boothbay, where Mrs. Gray enjoyed non-competitive horseback riding. The Grays were the first in the region to organize a recognized equestrian gymkhana. It was such a success that many other organizations began having then in the area. She was in on the ground floor of the inception of the Dirigo Horse and Pony Club, which she named. She was also a member of the St. Andrews Hospital Auxiliary for a number of years. Mrs. Gray also loved music. She studied piano for 12 years, and sang in three different church choirs over the course of her life. Her other hobbies included square dancing, gardening, walking, reading books, and writing about her animal friends. Surviving Mrs. Gray is her sister, Sandra Priest, of Harrington; daughters, Michelle “Shelly” Orne of Boothbay Harbor and Linda Gray of Gorham; and granddaughter, Amanda Keaton of Portland. Her husband, Carroll Gray, pre-deceased her. After her husband ‘s death in 1990, Mrs. Gray moved to Dresden where she spent her later years with her dear friend, Alton L. Worth and his beloved horses on a farm. He predeceased her Feb. 24, 2005. She will be sadly missed by all that knew her and loved her unconditional love.
PATRICIA D. GRAY
