John Gray, 66

John Joseph Gray, 66, of Ponca City, Okla., formerly the police chief of Mountain Home, died Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004, at Via Christi Oklahoma Regional Medical Center.

Services were held Feb. 14, at St. Mary's Catholic Church. John's cousin Rev. Marvin Leven attended as concelebrant at the services. Graveside services were held following the funeral at Riverside Cemetery in Ralston Oklahoma.

John was born Feb. 26, 1937, in Oklahoma City, Okla., the son of Lyman Otto and Maria Frances Leven Gray. He attended St. Mary's Catholic School and graduated from St. Gregory's High School in Shawnee, Okla., in 1955.

On Aug 11, 1956, he married his childhood sweetheart, Carol Rae Garner in Ponca City. Following high school, John began working for A & A Paint. He was then employed by the Wichita Police Department in 1960.

In 1966 he moved to Mountain Home where he joined the police department, working his way up from patrolman to school resource officer to detective and then chief of police. John left the police department in April 1981.

John and Carol moved to Featherville to live in "God's Country." There they ran Lit'l Brother's Featherville Saloon for a time. John then took the position as Chief of Police in Cascade until his retirement from law enforcement in1985.

That same year he and Carol returned to Ponca City, Okla., until 2000. They then decided to move to Mountain View, Ark., to be closer to their daughter and her family living in Little Rock, until their recent return to Ponca City in 2003.

John enjoyed family, friends, woodworking, hunting, fishing, camping, snowmobiling and making his "famous" homemade ice cream. He was a member of the Elks and St. Mary's Catholic Church.

He is survived by: his wife, Carol, of Ponca City, Okla.; a daughter, Cheryl Phillips and her husband, Doyle, of Pine Bluff, Ark.; a son, Lyman Gray of Boise; a sister, Betty "BJ" Darling of Mountain Home; two brothers, Don "LD" Gray and Steve Gray, both of Ponca City, Okla.; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Trudy Yanora.

Memorials may be made to the Ponca City Police Foundation, 200 E. Oklahoma, Ponca City, Okla. 74601.