Mervyn Gregory

Mervyn Gregory, loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend, died peacefully on Thursday, April 30, 2009. He was born on July 1, 1924, in Monroe, Washington, to George and Grace Gregory. The fourth of six boys, he grew up in the area of Wagner's Mill, otherwise known as "Hungry Hill." He learned to swim in the creek below Mt. Index, and spoke about it in his dying days, never losing his love of the Cascade Mountains. He was active in the Boy Scouts, and attained the rank of Eagle something he took great pride in throughout his life. He graduated from Everett High School, class of 1942, and went on to business school before entering the Army Air Corps (later to become the U.S. Air Force). He served first as a Chaplain's Assistant, afterwards assigned to administrative duties, and was sent to Paris before the end of WWII.

After the war, Mervyn was fixed up on a blind date with his older brother George's wife's (Dorothy's) best friend, Darleen Kimball. They were married on February 26, 1948. They settled in Bothell, Washington, and raised two children, Stephen Michael, and Geri Dawn. Mervyn worked diligently at Western Electric, until the company decided to move its headquarters to New York City. He decided to leave the company, as he felt New York City was no place to raise children, and went to work for the U.S. Air Force as a civilian in Washington, D.C. In 1968, the family moved to Bowie, Maryland. It was there, working for the Military Personnel Center, that he developed the payroll system for the entire Air Force. The Air Force moved Mervyn and his family in 1970, to Montgomery, Alabama, and then, in 1976, to San Antonio, Texas, where he retired, in 1994, at the age of 70, after serving 40 years as an Air Force employee.

Mervyn is survived by his wife of 61 years, Darleen, of San Antonio; his son, Dr. Stephen Michael Gregory and wife Maryjean, of Ellicott City, Maryland; his daughter, Geri Dawn Gregory, of San Antonio; his grandchildren, Phil Gold and wife, Rebecca, of Pikesville Maryland; Sara Prater and husband, Jonathan, of Greenbelt, Maryland; April Gregory and fiance, Jonathan Gustafson, of Bimidji, Minnesota; his brothers, Kenneth, of Kirkland, Washington; Sidney Paul of Moses Lake, Washington; and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.

Mervyn was preceded in death by his daughter, Druscilla Kay; his daughter-in-law, Joyce Viele Gregory; his parents, George and Grace Munn Gregory, and his brothers, Eugene, Clifford, and George, Jr.