Katherine Anne (Brown) Gray, also known as Katie, passed away on March 31, 2024, which happened to be Easter Sunday. She passed away in Lansdowne, VA. Katie was born on December 16, 1939, in Kansas City, MO. She graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1961 with a double BA in Art and Home Economics. She was a Delta Gamma and was selected to participate in the National College Queen Contest in New York City, which was featured in LIFE magazine.

In 1963, Katie married James F. Gray of Philadelphia, who was stationed at Whitman Air Force Base. She was an Art and Home Economics teacher for various schools and was the only Art teacher at St. Joseph's Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, where her daughters were enrolled.

Katie had a lifelong passion for watercolor painting. She also served as the cookbook editor at the Colonial Heritage Club in Williamsburg, VA where she and Jim spent their retirement years with their friends.

Katie was preceded in death by her husband Jim, her parents Anne and Al Brown of Kansas City, MO, and her sister Gretchen Brown of Kansas City, MO. She is survived by her two daughters, Margaux "Margo" Gray-Afanasyev (Cyril) of Cranford, NJ, and Nancy Gray Frohman (Dan) of Ashburn, VA; her brother, Alan Brown of Moline, IL; step-grandchildren, and other relatives.

Katie's funeral mass will be held at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Ashburn, VA, at 10:15 AM on April 26, 2024. A military ceremony will be held at Arlington National Cemetery for her burial next year. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in memory of Katherine A. Gray may be directed to the Wounded Warrior Project .