Douglas Roberts Gray

RYE - The Honorable Douglas Roberts Gray, 78, retired justice of the Superior Court of the state of New Hampshire, died July 24, 2011, after a period of declining health.

He was born on April 26, 1933, in Portsmouth, a son of Charles W. and Elizabeth (Kennard) Gray. He lived in New Castle before moving at age 7 to Rye, where he resided for the remainder of his life.

Judge Gray graduated from Portsmouth High School, class of 1951, and served honorably from 1951 to 1954 in the U.S. Army.

He received his bachelor of arts from the University of New Hampshire in 1959 and his juris doctor from Boston College Law School in 1965. While attending law school at night, he served as director of the Newburyport (Mass.) Redevelopment Authority.

He began practicing law with the firm of Griffin, Harrington, Brigham & Taylor in Portsmouth. He later partnered with dear friend and former New Hampshire district court judge, the late Alvin E. Taylor, with whom he co-founded the law firm of Taylor & Gray in Portsmouth.

From 1973 to 1983, he served as special justice in the District Court System of New Hampshire in a part-time position while he continued to practice law.

In 1983, he was appointed by Gov. John H. Sununu as an associate justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court, where he presided full-time until 1998, at which time he elected to serve as a senior justice and presided part-time until he reached the age of mandatory retirement in 2003.

He received the Judicial Fellow Award from the New Hampshire Bar Foundation in 1992 and the Judicial Excellence Award for Professionalism and Ethics from the American Inns of Court of New Hampshire in 1999. He was a member of the New Hampshire Bar Association, American Judges Association and the American Inns of Court of New Hampshire.

In his private life, he epitomized Yankee wit, loved hunting and fishing in the great outdoors, woodcarving, traveling with friends, spending time with his grandchildren, golfing and playing the bones and the banjo.

He was a recreational pilot who enjoyed the challenge of aerobatics; a member of Abenaqui Country Club and Portsmouth Yacht Club; and a former member of Federal Fire Society, Mechanic Fire Society and Wentworth By The Sea Country Club.

He is survived by his loving wife, Cornelia "Neelie" (Caminati) Gray, of Rye, with whom he shared 32 years of marriage.

In addition to his wife, family members include four children, Robert D. Gray of Tiverton, R.I.; Elizabeth G. Smith and husband, Dion, of Carpinteria, Calif.; Jennifer A. Vukmer and her husband, Robert, of Richmond, Va.; Daniel R. Gray and his wife, Xanthi, of Portsmouth; two stepchildren, Matthew F. Wagner and his wife, Bethany, of Oakton, Va.; and Megan W. Davis and her husband, Porter, of North Hampton; 14 grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; brother Robert K. Gray and his wife, Jerelyn, of Rye; three nephews, one niece and several cousins.

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SERVICES: Visiting hours are from 1 to 3 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the Remick & Gendron Funeral Home-Crematory, 811 Lafayette Road in Hampton. Services are at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Galley Hatch Conference Center – Best Western – The Inn at Hampton, 815 Lafayette Road, Hampton. Burial will follow with military honors in the Central Cemetery in Rye. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited.

Memorial donations to support New Hampshire students studying at the University of New Hampshire or UNH School of Law may be made to the UNH Foundation, 9 Edgewood Road, Durham 03824. For more information, go to RemickGendron.com.