Barbara Louise Gray Gunning

© Enid News and Eagle

02-17-2008

Submitted by: Jo Aguirre

Barbara Louise Gray Gunning departed this life on Valentines Day, February 14, 2008, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, following 82 years enriched by the love of God, family and friends.

Bar-bara was born the youngest of four children to William Otis Gray and Lillian Haupt Gray on April 28, 1926, in Independence, Kansas. Barbara moved with her family from Independence to Winfield, Kansas during grade school, then on to Enid, Oklahoma in 1941, where she graduated from Enid High in 1944. She met James E. “Jay” Gunning in high school, and they married on October 1, 1944, just prior to his deployment in the Navy during World War II. Upon his discharge, Barb and Jay attended the University of Oklahoma, each earning Bachelor of Accounting degrees in 1950. Following graduation, Barb and Jay returned to Enid where they shared with family the ownership and management of Gray’s clothing store for the next twenty years. After the birth of their first child, Barbara stayed home to raise their children, Beverly Kay Gunning Pax, Robert James Gunning, Jeffery Jay Gunning, and Christopher Ross Gunning.

Barbara was a founding member of the Chi Beta Child Study Club, and enjoyed the wide circle of friendship of its members throughout her adult life. She was proud to have served on a local education committee in the late 1950s, working to incorporate kindergarten classes into public schools in Enid.

She and Jay were charter members of Christ United Methodist Church, founded in 1954, where her faith and love of God matured over the next fifty years. In 1971, after living for a year in Charlotte, North Carolina, Barbara and Jay were divorced and Barb returned to Enid with Jeff and Chris, while Beverly and Bob attended OU. Barb spent the next twenty years working for the Garfield County Clerk’s office, Davis Abstract Company, and finally the city of Enid Administrative offices, from which she retired in 1991. Barbara spent the majority of her retirement years in Enid enjoying the company of her friends, Chi Beta sisters, and her brother Jim Gray and his wife Dorothy. She made frequent trips to visit her children and grandchildren in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas and Albuquerque, and enjoyed their visits home to Enid.

Following health problems that developed in 2003, she moved to Albuquerque to be closer to her son Chris and his family. While in Albuquerque, Barb attended Monte Vista Christian Church, and was a resident of Woodmark at Uptown and Manzano del Sol.

Surviving immediate family members are Beverly and Fred Pax, of Denver and their children Alyson, Ryon and Nic; her son, Bob and his wife Sheryl, of Atlanta and their children Jordan and Loren; her son, Jeff and his wife Karen, of Dallas and their children Kate and Emma; and her son, Chris and his wife Andrea, of Albuquerque and their children Amelia and Aaron. Surviving nephews and nieces include Jim Clement, Bill Clement, Anne Clement Scott, Jean Clement Johnson, and Suzanne Stolzer Fate.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her siblings, Margaret Gray Clement, James W. Gray and Katherine Gray Stolzer, and their spouses, one nephew, George Branson Gray, and one grandchild, Oliver Gray Pax.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, February 19, at Christ United Methodist Church in Enid, with Rev. Jim Jones officiating, followed by a family burial service at Memorial Park Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Christ United Methodist Church with Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home serving as custodians of the fund.

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