James Alexander Gray

Dr. James Alexander Gray, died peacefully at the age of 94 on November 8th at the Rutland Regional Medical Center in Rutland, Vermont, where he had practiced family medicine and assisted in surgeries for over four decades. An old-fashioned country doctor dedicated to patient care, he worked late hours and still made house calls at age seventy, with his black leather bag at his side. For patients who could not pay, he sometimes bartered medical care for firewood, fresh produce, poultry, or one year, cuts of beef from half a cow.
Jim Gray was born during the Great Depression, on August 3rd, 1931, in Schenectady, New York. His parents, both of Scottish descent, worked their entire careers at General Electric: James William Gray as an engineer associate and Margaret Kidd Barrie as a stenographer and secretary. From a very young age, Jim worked hard doing dozens of jobs at GE and delivering newsapers. While visiting Vermont as a church youth group leader, Jim fell in love with the picturesque town of Proctor where he would later practice family medicine when recruited from Dartmouth by Mortimer Proctor, former Vermont Governor and owner of the Vermont Marble Company.
Dr. Jim Gray graduated from Union College in Schenectady and from medical school at Syracuse University, now SUNY Upstate Medical University. He completed his intern year at the Lying In Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, now Women and Infants Hospital, and his residency in General Practice at Dartmouth's Mary Hitchcock Hospital. His greatest joy was delivering babies, more than two thousand of them, he boasted. Jim was also deeply committed to the work of the American Cancer Society, often presenting community lectures about the hazards of smoking.
Dr. Gray held numerous professional positions: President of the Vermont Medical Society, President of the Vermont Academy of Family Physicians, Commissioner of Health in Rutland, President of the Vermont Lung Association, a Rutland County Medical Examiner, and a Physician Representative for the County Agricultural Society of Vermont. He especially liked being the doctor for the Rutland County Fair.
Dr. Jim Gray was a leader in church life, scouting and the National Guard. He was elected President of the Schenectady County Christian Youth Council, President of the New York State Christian Youth Council and representative of the National Christian Youth Movement. He served as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church of Providence and Head Deacon in the Union Church of Proctor. He was a Boy Scout Master, Health Officer for the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Idaho, and a Merit Badge Counselor for Vermont. He proudly served six years in the National Guard as Captain of the Rutland Medical Platoon.
Jim Gray lived a robust and adventurous life. Over a seven-year period, the "Jim Gray Challenge" enlisted groups of people, mostly from the Rutland Regional Medical Center, in canoeing, hiking and biking adventures. He loved visiting National Parks, traveling across the country in his mobile home, and organizing canoe trips to Ontario's Algonquin Park. His global perspective led him to travel to Russia with a group of American doctors to promote cultural exchange during the Cold War. He later visited Belgium, Finland, Denmark, China, Korea, Japan, England, Scotland, Wales and Spain. Jim survived many life-threatening challenges as well, including surgeries for malignant melanomas, an appendectomy, and blood transfusions from a gunshot wound at age ten when he was shot by a hunter while trying to save a wounded bird.
Jim Gray's wife of 47 years, Susan Hopkins (Sue Gray) of Collingswood, New Jersey, raised their five children with him in Proctor, Vermont. He is survived by his sister, Nancy Gourlie of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and his five children: James H. Gray, D. Min. (and Esther) of Shoreham, Peter B. Gray, D.M.D. (and Kim) of Bomoseen, Susan A. Gray, Ph.D. (and George) of Manchester, John G. Gray, M.Ed. of Rutland, and Carol J. Gray, Ph.D. (and Jeff) of Fairbanks, Alaska, as well as ten grandchildren, four of whom he delivered, five great grandchildren, and two more babies on the way.
A memorial service will be held at the Proctor Union Church this coming summer. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Foley Cancer Center of the Rutland Regional Medical Center (802.747.1831).