Richard "Butch" Gray
Richard “Butch” Glen Gray, age 79, passed away Monday, April 8, 2024 at Kaiser Hospital in Vacaville, CA. He will be laid to rest at the Sacramento Valley Veterans Affairs Memorial Cemetery in Dixon, CA. There will be a Celebration of Life Friday, May 31 at 11 a.m. at Solano Valley Church, 1307 Oliver Road, Fairfield, CA.
Butch was keen on supporting a work in Rwanda helping children and families, so any donations in lieu of flowers will go to Parkway Community Church for their ongoing Rwanda project. Arrangements are entrusted to Bryan-Braker Funeral Home in Fairfield, CA. You may visit the tribute page at bryan-braker.com.
Butch was born June 3, 1944 in Waukon to Stan and Lillian Gray. He graduated from Waukon High School and then went on to the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) to major in Business. During the Vietnam conflict he was drafted and served in the U.S. Army, which took him to Fort Lewis in Washington state. That’s where he later met and married his wife Kathy in December of 1968.
It was at UNI that one night Butch committed to a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. The trajectory of his life was changed as he became a part of the student discipleship ministry of The Navigators, whose goal is “to know Christ and to make Him known”. He carried that same focus with him into his relationships during his Army years and beyond as he and Kathy served together with The Navigators for 18 years.
Their home was a hub of activity with university students in Bozeman, MT, Bellingham, WA, and Seatttle, WA, then later with U.S. military in South Korea and northern California. Butch later established Laymen for Christ with outreach/discipleship in the community. He could be found in nearly every coffee shop within two counties, making friends and encouraging business owners and customers.
Butch is survived by his wife, Kathy (Ballew) Gray; two sons, Andy Gray and Chris Gray (Pauline); one daughter, Susie Meadows (Charlie); six grandchildren, Mitch Meadows (Cynthia), Sammy and Nicko Meadows, and Camie, Bailey, and Silas Gray; and two great grandchildren, Mia and Micah Meadows. His two sisters, Sandy (the late Roger) Pladsen and Pat (Keith) Selberg, both live in/near Waukon.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and his two brothers, Robert N. Gray of Des Moines and John S. Gray of Glendale Heights, IL.
