Louise I. Gray

January 21, 1917 - January 8, 2011

Just two weeks shy of her 94th birthday, Louise passed away peacefully at her daughter's home in Seattle. Born on January 21, 1917 in Minneapolis, MN. to Hans and Emma Osterud, she was one of four children.

Her family moved to Eau Claire, WI where they lived in the Caryville Ferry house. Louise married Daniel H. Gray in 1939 in Eau Claire, WI. They moved to Seattle in 1942 where their three children were born and raised.

A stay-at-home mom, in 1962 during the World's Fair, she began her 17 year career at Frederick & Nelson's as a waitress in the Buffet/Tea Room. After retirement, she and Dan worked as SPD school crossing guards for 10 years at 3rd NW & 1st NW on 80th. She bowled with Dan at Leilani Lanes, rode her 12 speed bicycle through her 80's, enjoyed cross-country skiing, traveling and rosemaling. Most of all, she was an avid Mariners fan, attending as many games as she could, taking the bus to what would be her last game on Sept. 17, 2010. Member of Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church since 1953 and Sons of Norway, Leif Erickson Lodge. Volunteered many hours at PRLC Food Bank and at Greenwood Senior Center as a cook.

Louise is preceded in death by Dan,her husband of 59 years, her brother, Louie, and her sister, Hilma. She leaves behind her children, Linda (Jim) Puttler of Poulsbo, Marilyn(Rod) Hansen of Seattle, and Thure (Patricia) Gray of Temecula, CA. Five grandchildren, Ben (Jenn) Hansen, Krista (Tom Douglas) Puttler, Mai-Britt (Tom) Dowd, Lauren (Leif) Weimer, and Paige Gray. Four great-grandchilden, Nathaniel and Dashiel Hansen, Kaisa and Seamus Dowd and her sister, Ruth Walker and many loving nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

A private family graveside will be held at Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park in Seattle. A public memorial service will be held at Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, 7500 Greenwood Ave N., Seattle, on Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 1:30 PM.

Louise's caring thoughtfulness of others and her wonderful sense of humor will live in our hearts forever. She will be missed dearly by her friends and family.

Please sign the online guest book and share your stories of Louise at www.washelli.com

Eulogy by Phinny Ridge Lutheran Church:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

These are the words by which Louise lived her life. Marked in every Bible. Circled with notations in the margins. Written in her heart. She said them upon rising in the morning and upon retiring at night and countless times throughout the day. She didn't need to say them aloud for others to hear. She spoke them with her life which told volumes about the ground of her being. She was rooted in the Word of God and faith.

Born during a Minnesota snowstorm so severe that her father had to ski from their house to the end of the trolley line to meet the doctor and get him to the house to deliver her, Louise's life was filled with adventure. In her gentle and unassuming way, she made every day count, squeezing fun, meaning and service in the name of Christ into every thing she did.

Whether she was a "fountain girl" at the Eau Claire Walgreens, or serving in the buffet line or waiting tables at the Fredrick and Nelson, Louise brought her cheerful smile and kind regard to everyone she met. She earned the privilege of being given the crankiest customers because she would serve them with patience and grace, guided by the psalmist: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in they sight, oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer." It was all genuine, her love for people because it came from her love of Jesus. You heard it in the second scripture lesson - "Beloved, let us love one another . . . because God has first loved us."

At age 70 she took a job with Dan as a crossing guard for the children going to school at Greenwood Elementary and St. John the Evangelist Catholic School just a few blocks from here. Every school day for 10 years she greeted them in her uniform, blue cap, flag in her hand and red lipstick. She learned their names and she watched them grow and she watched out for them day by day and year after year. When a child mis-behaved, or a driver came too close or came to the intersection too fast, the psalmist's word came to her again before her own words escaped from her lips. - May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Louise was baptized at the age of four months. Her husband, Dan, was baptized on their wedding day, a testimony to the importance of faith not only in her life, but in their life together as husband and wife and eventually parents of their three children. Louise raised her children with extraordinary patience and unfailing support for their every endeavor. There was no greater joy than being Grandma Louise to Ben, Krista, Mai-Britt, Lauren and Paige and "GGL" - Great Grandma Louise - to Nate and Dashiel, Kaisa and Seamus (Sheamus).

Throughout her life, church, and for 57 years, this church, was her second home. She loved children into the Word of God as a Sunday School teacher, she was a faithful member of the Mary-Martha Circle and was as comfortable in the church kitchen as in her own. A few years ago when our Child Development Center began taking children as young as 12 months, Louise became a "Big Chapel Grandma" and came every Thursday to hold a child or two on her lap for chapel time and then eat lunch with them, read a story or help put them down for a nap. There was always room in her heart for one more person to love.

Ten years ago, Louise found another "second home" - Safeco Field. At age 83, she decided to take up another new hobby-baseball. Sometimes the games she wanted to see fell on Sundays. So here she would be, at worship in her Mariner's shirt, ready to hop on the bus right after church, or if there was, say, a special congregational meeting while the Mariner's were playing, she would have one ear tuned to the meeting and the other was plugged into her radio. I'm sure that in recent years as the Mariners faltered, the words of the psalmist were called upon frequently but win or lose, she loved the Mariners.

But most of all, she loved her Savior. Louise taught all of us how to live as a child of God. Whether playing pinnocle with friends or at the bowling alley, dancing in the kitchen with Dan to "Good Night, Irene," or serving clients at the Food Bank, she did it all with the love of Jesus in her heart. Her sparkling eyes, her love of a good joke, her immutable patience, her joy in living, her sense of adventure, her servant heart made her who she was and has made us who we are.

Asked by one of her granddaughters to pass on her life lessons, Louise wrote the following:

Have patience.

Do not swear.

Say kind things.

Help those needing help.

Be thankful for good health and family.

She left an instruction book on how to do these things: a well used Bible with highlighted passages and notes in the margins. This book holds the story of Louise Gray's life, from beginning to end.

Wrapped throughout her life in the arms of her merciful Savior, she received the news of her final illness with typical grace. "The funeral arrangements have all been paid for. I'd like to go home."

And so she did. Without drama, without fear or sadness, Louise lived her last days gently passing from this life to the next when the baptism she once received to become a child of God became complete as she was born again into God's eternal kingdom.

It is now our turn to love the way she loved. To love her so much as to carry her in our hearts. To love her so much as to give her back to her rock and her redeemer.

Written by:

Pastor Bev Piro

Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church

7500 Greenwood Ave N

Seattle, WA 98103

206.783.2350

www.prlc.org