Mr. Aubrey Thomas Gray

Mr. Aubrey Thomas Gray, (A.T.), of Winter Park, FL. passed away on March 13th at Hospice of the Comforter in Altamonte Springs, FL. He fought many health issues valiantly for the past 6 months, along with his wife, Mary J., who never gave up on him. He was preceded in death by his father, Allison T. Gray: Mother, Lyma Alice and brother, Professor Wallace A. Gray of Columbia University, NYC. He is survived by his wife, Mary J, son, Capt. Thomas A. Gray of Ft. Lauderdale; and daughter, Elizabeth (Beth) of New Smyrna Beach and his grandchildren: Paul, Ryan, and Sean. He also has a daughter, Rebecca , a son Kevin, from a former marriage and two grandchildren , Kara, and Conor., all of Hawaii. He was born near Alexandria, La. where he grew up to become was an Eagle Scout. Tennis was his great joy in life. He won a tennis scholarship to college. and later ran the Martin/Marietta tennis tournaments every year until he retired. He has many trophies for his doubles matches. He also loved fishing and hunting with his son, Tom Gray, nephews, Glenn Pugh and Eric Pugh; and brothers-in-law, Irby ,Mike, Bill, and Charles Pugh. He was class President of his college, Southwestern Louisiana Institute and later at Northwestern State. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was stationed at Army Electronic Proving Ground, Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. After leaving the service, he was a Senior Research Engineer for General Dynamics in Pomona, Cal. Always a leader and innovator in ground and air defense systems, he moved to Orlando in 1962 as a systems engineer with Martin Marietta, now Lockheed/Martin. Some of the programs he worked on until he retired in 1994 included the Patriot Missile, vertical launching system, ADATS, and worked in Air Defense Advanced Programs. From a younger colleague, "He taught me that getting to the truth was essential, that it was ok to disagree and argue with the boss, that having an opinion was important(even more important if that was the case) , that doing things "right" was the standard, and that caring for and taking care of the family cannot be compromised." Although he had his serious side, he was also well known for his being quite a character. Someone said that he could make an adventure out of going to the 7-11. In the mid 80’s, while working in Switzerland, he and his wife, Mary J, visited the great art museums of Europe. He was always very proud of her work as an artist. Mr. Gray, a veteran, will be interred at Bushnell National Cemetery. There will be an opportunity for some AT stories at the "Celebration of Life" gathering, which is in the planning stage and will be posted on www.DeGusipeFuneralHome.com. Arrangements are entrusted to DeGusipe Funeral Home & Crematory, 9001 N. Orlando Ave. Maitland, FL 32751 (407) 695-CARE (2273).

Mr. Aubrey Thomas Gray

August 19, 1929 - March 13, 2014