By Alex Ginsberg
Maj. Gerald Gray, the genial and dedicated Ridgewood minister who ran the Salvation Army Community Center on Cypress Hills Street, died suddenly last Thursday following a fall in front of his Long Island home, friends and relatives said. He was 53.
The unexpected death shocked and saddened the small but industrious group with whom he worked.
Sonia Lassen, a case worker who provides counseling at the center, remembered meeting Gray and his wife Maj. Mary Gray in October 2001 when she interviewed for the position.
“More than a boss, Maj. Jerry was a pal,” she said in a eulogy delivered Tuesday night in Hempstead, L.I. “His jolliness made him approachable. He was someone with whom you could talk and feel at ease.”
According to Community Board 5, which covers Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village, Gray tripped in front of his Baldwin, L.I., home July 29 and broke his hip. He was taken to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery but died two days later after complications arose. The exact cause of death was not known.
Lassen said Gray often made the handful of employees and volunteers at the community center laugh, especially when he dodged the watchful eye of his wife and smuggled Chinese food into the center.
He was also known for his keen interest in music, primarily rock, blues and gospel. Just six days before he died, he performed in the inaugural evening of Jam for the Lamb, a coffeehouse and Christian music performance space he established on the second floor of the community center. Gray and Jam for the Lamb were profiled in last week's TimesLedger newspapers.
Originally from Ohio, Gray had been playing guitar for 35 years. He became a Salvation Army minister 25 years ago. Before assuming his current position in Ridgewood, he held posts in Ohio, upstate New York and Massachusetts.
Last week, only hours before he performed at Jam for the Lamb, Gray described his plans for the new coffeehouse.
“We're just hoping to get people who are searching and questioning,” he told the Ridgewood Ledger. “We're hoping that if they decide to search, this is the place they do it.”
He added that denominations were not important to him, noting that “we'll all just be Christians in heaven.”
Reach reporter Alex Ginsberg by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
