Bradley Sanders Gray

Brad was born May 25th, 1950, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and died February 16th, 2024, in Parksville, British Columbia, Canada. Brad is predeceased by his parents Bernice Restorick and Archie Gray, and his younger siblings Shirley and Douglas. Brad is survived by his loving wife of 36 years Debra Gray, and his children Jenifer and James, his younger sisters Beverly Stewart and Linda Smith, his Aunt Pearl Restorick, and his nephews David, Peter, and Nolan, and his nieces Chantal, Teagan, Vera Lynn, Nadine, and Charity, and his cousins Terry Skinner, Sheila Ghostkeeper, Sherri Restorick, and extended families.

Brad had a rough childhood and grew up in foster care often working on farms picking vegetables. In his early adult years, he stayed with the Howard family, who went to his mom’s church, where he started to attend gospel meetings, which he stayed faithful to until the end.

At the age of 22 Brad was started working for the trucking firm Reimer Express Lines in the warehouse loading and unloading trailers both by hand and forklift. Brad enjoyed driving forklifts and preferred his early morning shift of 3am to 11am for 43 years. Brad was an active member of the Prairie Teamsters Union Local 979.

On May 16th, 1986, Brad married the love of his life Debra, in Lynnwood, Washington, USA, and brought her back to Winnipeg. The two of them remained married together for over 36 years and have two children James and Jennifer. Upon Brad’s 65th birthday in 2015, he retired from Reimers, and true to his wedding promise, he moved the family to Parksville, on Vancouver Island in BC to escape the long cold icy winters of Winnipeg forever.

Brad was known for being able to complete any jigsaw puzzle and would regularly have multiple 1000-piece puzzles on the dinning room table under construction. Brad liked dogs, and enjoyed sitting with the family pets on the couch, and frequently let them clean his plate after dinner. 

Brad was a shy and softspoken man, who was very friendly and knowledgeable to those who knew him. Brad could remember the names, occupation, and family trees of everyone he became acquainted with, even after his short-term memory left, he could still tell you how people were related. Brad followed the news regularly and would seek multiple sources on news stories to ensure it was not biased, this led to a habit of purchasing multiple newspapers and a pop everyday at the store.

Brad was passionate about Trucks, Trains, Tractors, and Automobiles, and enjoyed going to car shows and talking about different machines with friends. As Brad’s health deteriorated, he was not able to go visit the cars, and trains in person. He relied on his family to keep him entertained with many hours of youtube videos, and picture books mailed by friends.  Although he tried to hide it as long as possible Brad suffered from dementia that was getting progressively worse and worse for several years and had been on a waiting list to get a bed in a nursing home for the last 4 years and spent the last 2 years on a waitlist to get a tooth removed. He relied heavily on his wife and children for support until he was finally accepted into a nursing home 3 days before his death on February 16th 2024. Brad was 73 years of age.

There will be a service on Thursday February 29th, at 2pm PST, in the Nanoose Library Community Hall, 2489 Nanoose Rd, Nanoose Bay, BC, V8P 9E6.