David Charles Gray was a U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War and a registered nurse. He passed away July 13, 2021.
David was president of the Class of 1985 of the Charles E. Gregory School of Nursing at Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy. He was board certified in general nursing practice by the American Nurses Credentialing Center in Washington, D.C. and was a graduate of the Monmouth County Vocational School as a C.N.A. in 1973 and as an L.P.N. in 1980 through a full state scholarship. He dedicated his entire life to the care and wellbeing of others.
As a child it was said if he didn’t straighten out, he would end up in Marlboro or in Prison. As it turned out, he was head nurse at both facilities. He worked at Marlboro from 1977 until 1988. He worked in corrections at the Monmouth County Correctional Jail from 1990 until his retirement in 2013. He was night charge nurse on 3 East at Bayshore Community Hospital from 2005 to 2009.
David was an avid scuba diver and an associate member of the New Jersey Historical Divers Association. He volunteered at the New Jersey Ship Wreck Museum and the Info Age Science Center in Wall.
He was a former member of the Red Bank Volunteer Fire Department, Westside Engine Co., and was decorated for bravery in 1980 when he cleared a burning apartment complex in Ocean Township prior to the arrival of the Oakhurst Fire Department.
David was a U.S. Navy veteran who served on board the USS Berkeley (DDG-15) with the Seventh Fleet off the coast of Vietnam. He received a Letter of Commendation for saving the life of a shipmate, John Allen Kotera. His unit was awarded the Combat Action and Naval Meritorious Unit Citations for actions against the North Vietnamese in Operation Pocket Money and the mining of Hi Phung Harbor in North Vietnam.
He was a life member of The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and the last commander of VFW Navesink River Post 438, Red Bank, and a member of VFW Post 2226 in Oakhurst.
A lifelong communicant of Trinity Episcopal Church, he served in the choir, taught Sunday School, was a lay reader and an acolyte for 50 years.
David was the third son of the late Judge George A. Gray and Florence A. Gray. He is survived by his darling wife of almost 35 years Jennifer, and their daughter Patricia whom he loved dearly; his two older brothers George A. Gray III of Ewing and Dr. Richard M. Gray of Long Branch, and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service with Holy Eucharist was held July 17 at Trinity Church, Red Bank. In lieu of flowers please make a memorial donation to Trinity Church or The New Jersey Historical Divers Association or the American Cancer Society.
Thompson Memorial Home, Red Bank, has been entrusted with the arrangements.
The article originally appeared in the July 22 – 28, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
