NATHALIE WALLER GRAY

Nathalie Waller Gray was born to John Dennis and Fannie Carter Waller on July 18, 1915, in Washington County, Florida. Ms. Gray's time on Earth ended July 30, 2008, in Tallahassee, where she resided for the last several years of her physical life.
A visitation is scheduled for Friday, August 8, 2008, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Wilson's Funeral Home.
Ms. Gray was reared on the sand hills of Washington County and graduated from Vernon High School. She briefly attended Florida State College for Women, but the Depression forced her to return to Washington County to teach school to help support her family.
In 1938, she married Randall Hosea Gray of Panama City. They had three children, James Randall Gray (Julia Hobbs) of Spring Grove Minnesota, and Julia Elizabeth Gray, and Clifford Timothy Gray (Anna Blanco) of Tallahassee.
Ms. Gray reared her three children and worked in the family grocery store in the Millville community before returning to teaching primary grades in the Bay County School system, but she was required to earn a college degree. Ms. Gray completed studies at then Gulf Coast Junior College taking night and weekend classes. She continued her education as an adult at Florida State University, driving from Panama City to Tallahassee one night a week and taking summer courses. Ms. Gray earned a Bachelor of Science degree, graduating in 1961 from The Florida State University in the same class as her son Jimmy. Ms. Gray continued teaching until her retirement in 1978. She then volunteered with the Bay Medical Center Auxiliary for many years and cared for her beloved sister Decima. Prior to moving to Tallahassee, Ms. Gray lived in Jacksonville where her daughter Julia then resided.
Ms. Gray's real passion was politics and her commitment was to the underprivileged. Her interest in politics was sparked when she lead Bay County educators in the 1968 statewide teachers job action, which paved the way for public employee collective bargaining in Florida. When the federal Head Start program began in the 1960s, she was one of the first to cross the color barrier and teach at a segregated school.
To her last day, Ms. Gray was a "Yellow Dog" Democrat. She worked in many Bay County political campaigns and became involved in the Florida Democratic Party, which honored her by electing her Vice Chairperson. She was selected as a delegate to three Democratic National Conventions. She knew many national, state, and local officeholders. Ms. Gray lived in Bay County for 60 years and counted many of its leaders and citizens as her friends.
In addition to her parents and sister, Decima Hugg, the spirit of Ms. Gray reunites with her brother Emil and sister, Essa Mae Robles. In addition to her three children, Ms. Gray leaves six grandchildren: Alexander Gray of Rochester, New York, and Andreas Gray of Spring Grove Minnesota; Shawn Morris Patterson of Fairhope, Alabama; and Marcus, Eva, and John Clark Gray of Tallahassee, and five great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family of Ms. Gray requests that donations be made the Bay Medical Center Foundation, for which she served as a director.

Wilson Funeral Home