Victor Otto Gray

1926 - 2016

Victor Otto Gray

Victor Otto Gray passed away on 5/9/16. Vic was born on 6/8/26 in Missoula, MT to Freda and Patrick Gray, and had two older brothers, Bill and Charlie. They moved to Spokane in 1934. He attended St. Aloysius and Gonzaga Prep, lettering in football, track, basketball, and baseball. He entered the Navy in 1943, served in the SeaBees Core of Civil Engineers, and was stationed in the South Pacific in WWII.

He returned to Spokane and earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Gonzaga. Later he would earn his M.S. in Structural Engineering from UW. He held engineering licenses in WA, OR, ID, and AK.

In 1961 he formed Gray and Evans Consulting Engineers, and in 1965 became principal of Victor O Gray and Company. He would later become President of the Consulting Engineers of Washington, Structural Engineers of Washington Seattle Chapter, and National Vice President of the Consulting Engineers Council of the U.S.

He was the president of Downtown Development Association, the Holy Names Academy Board of Directors, the Woodland Park Zoological Society, was on the board of the International Snow Leopard Trust, and was a Rotarian. He was a former director of the UW Applied Physics Lab and a lecturer in the Engineering Department at UW. He was on the board of the Historic Seattle Preservation and Development Authority Council.

In 1970 he was named Engineer of the Year by the CECW. In 2006 he was made Honorary Life Member in the Seattle Engineers Association and inducted into their Hall of Fame.

1987 he sold his company to Entranco Engineers and headed their Structural Engineering Department. Their Flaming Geyser State Park Bridge won a national award in 1993.

Gray's many projects, buildings, and studies include: the Capitol Building in Olympia, Arnold Medical Pavilion, Freeway Park Garage, SeaTac Terminal, Mercer Island Floating Bridge, Flaming Geyser Bridge, 520 Bridge Revisions, KCTS 9 Tower, Paradise Inn, multiple buildings at UW, WWU, and CWU, Olympic Memorial Hospital, the Robbins Company building, Holy Names Academy building, and over 780 other projects.

Gray was known for his love of challenge, his excellence in concrete and steel engineering design, and passion for accountability in public spending at the city and state level. Most recently, he proposed retrofitting the Alaska Way Viaduct and founded the Viaduct Preservation Group to ensure the public had explored all reasonable alternatives to the current construction.

In retirement he lived in Port Townsend, flew his Cessna cross country, golfed, paved roads, built airplane hangars, and traveled with his beloved wife Paula. He is survived by his children, Patrick Gray, Vicky and Greg Smith, and Elizabeth Gray and Michael Roybal.

Memorial Thursday, May 19th, 11am at Washington Athletic Club.