Norma Lee Gray

Norma Lee Gray, 90, of Salisbury and Elliott Island passed away on June 11 at the home of her daughter. Mrs. Gray was the daughter of the late Carl and Bertha Meredith Gray and was born and raised at Elliott Island. Norma Lee enjoyed school and later substitute taught. She was always proud to have graduated in the small class of the then Vienna High School and kept in touch with classmates. She married L. Elwood Gray in 1950 and they made their home at Elliott where she was also happily surrounded by her parents and brothers.

As a young married woman she worked at the Martinek Button Shop at Elliott. Later she became full partner with her husband and father-in-law in the family trucking business, Gray's Mail Transportation, as equal decision-maker and bookkeeper, administering the records for over 20 truck drivers, a school bus contract route and other equipment. After her husband's death in 1980 she continued with the school bus and several small mail contracts.

Norma Lee enjoyed her homemaking and was an excellent cook and baker, contributing food to church suppers for many years. She was active in the Elliott UM Church during her youth and thereafter, serving in many leadership positions. In the 1990s she joined Grace UM Church in Cambridge where she enjoyed attending for years and made friends. Especially dear to her were the late Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Parker. Norma Lee enjoyed many lunches, concerts and outings with these dear friends.

She enjoyed her yard and flowers, doing her own yard work at both her homes until recent declining health. She and her husband had large gardens with both flowers and truck crops at Elliott during his lifetime. Norma Lee enjoyed keeping up with current affairs and was an avid fan and listener to talk radio. She was mom to many family pets including many dogs, a cat and a pony. More recently, she was "Grandma" to several special German Shepherd Dogs as well as horses from Omega Horse Rescue of Pennsylvania.

In addition to her parents and husband, Norma Lee terribly missed her dear brother Gilbert Gray who passed away in 1986. She leaves behind her brother Wilson "Bob" Gray of Cambridge, special niece Sherry Hartman of Arnold MD and her husband David, and several other nieces, nephews and cousins. Forever mourning will be her daughter, Norma Teresa Gray Dobrowolski of Salisbury and Elliott, and Norma's partner Jim Lavrich. Norma Lee and Norma were best friends as well as mother and daughter.

Service will be on Monday, June 17 at Thomas Funeral Home 700 Locust St, Cambridge, MD 21613. Friends may call beginning at 10 a.m. before the 11:00 a.m. service. The Rev. Douglas Ridley will officiate with music by Dr. Michael Stefanek. Interment will be at the family plot at Dorchester Memorial Park outside Cambridge. The family appreciatively accepts floral tributes or for memorial donations, the Elliott UM Church, 2310 Elliott Island Rd, Vienna MD 21869.