WITTMEYER, Gray

GRAY WITTMEYER

This photograph of "Gray Wittmeyer" was found today in the Antique Peddlars mall in Springfield, Oregon.

I have determined that this is John Gray Wittmeyer, born Sept 12, 1915 in Colorado, and died Dec 7, 2010 in Coos Bay, Oregon.

His father was John Wittmeyer, and his mother Sarah Rose Irwin.

The following obituary was found online.

OBITUARY (The World Newspaper, Coos Bay, Oregon)

John "Gray" Wittmeyer, 95, of Port Orford, died Dec. 7, 2010, of age-related causes. Private cremation rites were held at Ocean View Memory Gardens in Coos Bay. No further service is planned.

Gray was born Sept. 12, 1915, in Denver, Colo., to John and Sallie Wittmeyer. Gray grew up and attended school in Denver, where he was the salutatorian of his high school class receiving a scholarship to attend college. He completed his graduate work at the University of Denver.

As a young man, Gray worked at a saw mill and delved into mining, later joining the U.S. Army Air Corps. While serving in the Air Corps, he was stationed in Canada and served during the building of the Canadian Highway. It was during this time he met the family of his future wife, Dorothy Andrew, who encouraged him to write to her after he returned to the states. After a long correspondence they met in person and eventually married.

Gray worked as a forester for the Bureau of Land Management, specializing in reforestation. He supervised the replanting of a large part of the forests in the Reedsport and Drain area, while recording his extensive tree seed research. For more than 40 years, he worked with elementary students, patiently teaching them the art of tree planting.

Gray will always be remembered for the pleasure that he took in engaging others in stimulating political discussion. He was passionate about justice and truth, and the New York Yankees, but first and foremost he was a kind gentleman. Everyone who was privileged to know Gray all agree that our world has lost an extraordinary soul.

He is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Dorothy Andrew.

Gray was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Rodney.