Ms. Suzanne Gray

Age 84

Northport Funeral & Cremation Service family extends our warmest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the family of Ms. Suzanne Gray. Ms. Gray passed away on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Reform, AL.

Friends announce the passing of Suzanne Ford Gray, age 84, of Gordo, Alabama. Suzanne died on July 16, 2025, in Reform, Alabama, and is preceded in death by her parents, Vivian Ford Gray and Leon Andrew Gray, Jr., of Auburn, Alabama.

We mourn the loss of Suzanne yet are uplifted by the enduring legacy of her creativity. A cartoonist, illustrator, painter, bookmaker, printer and writer, Suzanne was truly an inspiration to artists and writers in her community.

After graduating with a degree in Visual Arts from Auburn University, Suzanne described herself as an illustrator by day and “a mad cartoonist by night.” Her career took her to Fort Lee, New Jersey, where she worked as an art therapist, and later she was the graphic artist for a series of manuals for the International Center for Aquaculture and Aquatic Environments at Auburn University.

As a self-described bookaholic, Suzanne loved both books and learning. If she weren’t reading, she would be in a bookstore many Saturday mornings. After she earned an MFA in Book Arts at the University of Alabama, she printed and bound her own books, specializing in the works of Southern authors and her own writings and illustrations. 

Suzanne enjoyed exploring the byways of her home state of Alabama with friends, finding inspiration in those things close at hand. Suzanne said, of her own work, that her art was concerned with those things just beyond the eye, just around the corner, or just off the edge of the big picture. 

As she has moved to that space herself, please join her friends and family in remembering her. A future retrospective exhibit of her artwork will be organized in her honor. Tributes to Suzanne may be made by donating to the Kentuck Museum Association in Northport, Alabama.

Compassionate, sympathetic, and professional service has been entrusted to the hands and care of the Northport Funeral Cremation Service Professional Team.