Herman Gray M.D.

1923 - 2020

HERMAN GRAY, M.D. A great spirit has left us. Herman Hugo Gray, 96, died Oct. 29, 2020, in Chico. Herman was born Nov. 14, 1923, in Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Germany, to Alfred and Luise Fried Grunebaum. As the Nazi government persecuted Jewish citizens, Herman was sent to boarding school in England until his family escaped Germany. The Grunebaums immigrated to the U.S. in 1937, and Alfred changed their family name to Gray. A high school teacher in Klamath Falls, Oregon, sparked Herman's life-long passion for birdwatching. He yearned to be a biologist, but his father wanted him to study medicine. Herman attended Washington State College, U.C. Berkeley, Tulane University Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. He specialized in tropical skin diseases, especially leprosy. He served in the Army during WWII and became a U.S. citizen. In 1952 he married nurse and Dutch ‚migr‚, Baukje "Bea" Sluis. They became medical missionaries for the Christian Reformed Church and moved to Benue Leprosy Settlement in Nigeria. Herman was medical superintendent at Mkar Christian Hospital, supervised construction of Takum Christian Hospital and helped develop a rural health program. The Grays' two sons, Mark and Stan, were born in 1956 and 1959. The family left Nigeria in 1972, feeling their boys needed to finish high school in the U.S. They settled in Chester, CA, because the town needed a doctor. Herman rode his bike on house calls, sometimes even in the snow, and if he went to a home to deliver a baby and the family seemed to lack money, they didn't receive a bill. "I didn't go into medicine to make a lot of money. I went into medicine to serve my fellow man," he said in a 1988 Enterprise-Record interview. Herman and Baukje returned to Nigeria and helped establish health clinics, maternity centers, and trained health workers. After they returned to the U.S. in 1987, Herman worked at Orland Family Health Center, and as medical director for Del Norte Clinics. He traveled to The Gambia, Africa, and to Alaska for months at a time, to spell doctors who needed a break. Herman continued to work as a doctor into his mid-90s, at Paramex Screening Service and the State Department of Rehabilitation, and still had an active medical license. He never lost his love for birdwatching and was a weekly volunteer docent at Gray Lodge Wildlife Area. He loved gardening and the natural world, led wildflower tours around Northern California, and both taught and attended classes through OLLI at Chico State. He volunteered in so many capacities, including the Herbarium at CSUC, and in the library at Citrus Elementary School, where he was known as "Grampa Gray." Herman was an active elder at Bidwell Presbyterian Church and met weekly with his men's church group on Zoom. He was a quiet, compassionate, humorous and modest man who loved God and lived his life to care for others and to make the world a better place. Memorial donations may go to a charity of your choice. Herman is survived by his beloved wife of 68 years, Baukje Gray, and their sons Stan and Mark (Elaine) Gray, all of Chico. His family is deeply grateful to Newton-Bracewell, and to the nurses on the fourth floor at Enloe Hospital, who surrounded us with love and treated us like their own family. A Memorial Service will be held at 1:00 p.m., Sunday, November 22, 2020 at Bidwell Presbyterian Church. Please RSVP for the Memorial at bidwellpres.org or by calling the church office at 343-1484. Share your thoughts online at NewtonBracewell.com