Charles Watson Gray

Charles Watson Gray, 87, Kansas City, Missouri, passed away December 19, 2016 at St. Joseph Hospital in Kansas City. Memorial Services will be 10 a.m, Friday December 23, Christ Community Evangelical Free Church, 14200 Kenneth Road, Leawood, KS. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m., Thursday, December 22, McGilley State Line Chapel. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions be made to the Salvation Army.

Mr. Gray was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Clarence and Ruth Gray, on May 27, 1929 and was the oldest of six children. After beginning his broadcast career in Oklahoma in the late 1940s, he became a well-known voice in Kansas City news for nearly fifty years, working initially at WHB radio, where he met his wife of 49 years, Barbara Jeanne (Hanna) Gray, whom he married on June 15, 1955. He also worked at KMBC radio and television for 14 years, and WDAF radio for 25 years, prior to retiring in 1997. During his career, he covered some of the most significant events in Kansas City history, including the Greenlease kidnapping in 1953, the Southwest Boulevard fire in 1959 that killed five firefighters, the riots that occurred in 1968, the Republican National convention in 1976, the Hyatt skywalk collapse in 1981, and the 1988 explosion that killed six firefighters. He had the opportunity to interview several U.S. presidents and was widely regarded as a unique and trusted voice that Kansas City relied on daily for its news. Its noteworthy, that a great deal of what he accomplished as a journalist, was done in close partnership and cooperation with local and national law enforcement authorities and local fire departments, with whom he built and maintained a great deal of mutual trust, credibility and loyalty. He also valued the special relationship he had with local fire departments, including the KCFD, which continued well after his career ended and he took great pride in being known as a fireman’s friend.

Charles was a kind-hearted gentleman, who was fully devoted to his family. He was a loving and caring son, brother, husband, father, father-in-law, and grandfather, and found great joy in spending time with his family. He faithfully and sacrificially loved his wife Barbara until her death in 2004. He is also preceded in death by his parents, and his sister Nancy (Gray) Baatz. He is survived by his sister Betsy (Gray) Weir, brothers Clarence Gray, Robert Gray, and Daniel Gray, two sons, Charles Robert Gray and John Scott Gray, daughter-in-law Judy (Wetmore) Gray, and two grandsons, Nathan Charles Gray and Gabriel Gordon Gray.

Charles Gray was an amazing man and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.