Lucille R. Gray, of Brookline and Newton Center, died peacefully in Dedham at NewBridge on the Charles on May 17, 2018, in her 99th year. She had a long career as a social worker in the Boston area. She was known for her many years of work at the Malden Court Clinic, for which she was honored with awards from Governor Dukakis and the Association for the Professional Treatment of Offenders.
Ms. Gray was born Lucille Pearl Radlo in Dorchester in 1919. Her father, Mark Radlo, an immigrant from Poland, founded Radlo Brothers, a Boston-based egg wholesaler, which later expanded and became Radlo Foods. Her mother, Anna Zechnowitz, born in Russia, was a schoolteacher who for decades was an active member of Hadassah. Ms. Gray was a graduate of Girls Latin School. Her interest in community service began during her high school years, when she volunteered as a piano accompanist for a girls’ chorus at a settlement house in the West End. She attended Radcliffe College, where as chapter president of the student Zionist group Avukah, she helped bring Jews fleeing Nazi persecution to America. She earned a Masters in Social Work in 1941 from Simmons College.
She began her social work career in the Eye Clinic of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and then worked at Beth Israel Hospital, where she met her husband, Dr. William Gray. They married in 1944. After the war, Ms. Gray worked as a social therapist in the Seizure Unit at Children’s Hospital. After her children were grown, Ms. Gray began her work at the Malden Court Clinic, and also worked as a therapist in her husband’s psychiatry practice. After retiring, up through the age of 90, she continued helping others by teaching English to immigrants and visiting the elderly for Jewish Family Service.
Ms. Gray is survived by her three children, Carolyn Fahm of Providence, RI, Edward Gray of New York City, and Nicholas Gray of Brookline; her sister, Ruth R. Orne of Sarasota, FL; her grandchildren, Helen Gray and Joseph Gray, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Services will be at Levine Chapels, 470 Harvard St, Brookline on Monday, May 21 at 1:00pm. Interment to follow at Sharon Memorial Park, 40 Dedham Street, Sharon.
Memorial observance following the interment, from 4-6pm in the Interfaith Chapel at NewBridge on the Charles, 1st floor, Community Center Building, 5000 Great Meadow Road, Dedham.
In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to a charity of your choice.
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