Marcia Mary Gray

Marcia Parkison Gray released her life on earth on October 19, 2015. Marcia was born December 27, 1918 in Barkley Township, Jasper County in the house that her Great-Grandfather built before the Civil War and was a station for the Underground Railroad. Her Grandfather and Father and all of their brothers and sisters were born in this house. She was the daughter of William Kenton and Bess Hardy Parkison. She was educated in South Barkley School and graduated from Rensselaer High School in the Class 1936. She worked for a time in the court house for a government farm program and earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Ball State Teacher’s College. She taught in South Barkley School for 3 years and then in Rensselaer for 16 years. She married Hal Gray on August 20, 1955 in her parent’s home in Gilliam Township. She retired from teaching in 1957 when she and Hal were expecting their first child. She was a caring and loving Mother, Grandmother, daughter and wife. She was a member of the First Christian Church of Rensselaer and a devout believer in God and had held the post as a deaconess and elder in the church as well attending many church circle meetings during these years. She also served on many committees doing the work of the church. She was a member of Sigma Phi Gamma Sorority. She loved cooking, cross-stitching, travel, and life in general. She especially enjoyed meeting many of her former students, some now having graduated fifty years ago, and remembering and telling stories about amusing antidotes that took place during her teaching and girlhood years. She was preceded in death by a brother Tom, an ensign in the navy during WWII who was lost at sea in 1943 off the northwest coast of Australia, and brother Robert. Robert that was injured in an automobile accident in 1940 and was paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. Marcia dropped out of teachers’ college many times in order to be at home and help with the care that her brother needed. She often quipped that it took her twelve years to earn her teaching degree. She and Hal had two children, Eileen (James) Phegley of Renssealer and Kenton (Mary Ellen) Gray of Winthrop, Massachusetts. Five grandchildren, Patrick, Corey and Shannon Dowds, and Sean and Michael Gray. She loved her family and was never happier than when she had them all together under the roof again. Marcia had a keen sense of humor and so enjoyed the many years of teaching and raising her family. There will be no visitation or funeral. A Memorial service will follow at a later date. She will be greatly missed by her family and the many friends that she made during her long life. Jackson Funeral Chapel is entrusted with these arrangements.

Marcia Mary Gray

December 27, 1918 - October 19, 2015