Obituary of Bertha Onell Gray

Bertha Onell Randolph Gray was born on February 23, 1929 to Virginia Palmore Hicks Randolph and Joseph Randolph in Powhatan, VA. All pain and suffering ended on March 22, 2018 when she went home to be with her father in heaven. At an early age she accepted Christ and was baptized at the Little Zion Baptist Church in Powhatan. She attended Loganville School in the Trenholm section of Powhatan. She developed a lifelong quest for knowledge and became an avid reader of newspapers, magazines, how-to-books on infant and child care, cooking and health and healing. One day while riding in the car with her brother George, a young man fresh home from the war approached the car and asked for a ride home. That young man, Alfred Holland Gray, would later say that from the first moment he saw her he knew that Bertha was the one. On Christmas Day in 1947 they were joined together in Holy matrimony. To this union eight children were born. The couple began to raise a family and migrated to Riverhead, NY. Over the years before her retirement Bertha worked several jobs to help support her family. She begins by working weekends and in the summer when the children were out of school. On weekends she worked as a cook and server in the Bluebird Inn nightclub and later the Dinner. She was also employed by Central Suffolk Hospital in the dietary department where she prepared meals for the patients. She worked for an anti- poverty program as a liaison between low income families and the school system. She worked for several years for Tru-Tech, a defense contractor where she made military supplies. She loved all things medical and her last job was as a home health care provider gave her great satisfaction and the opportunity to care for and minister to the sick. In fact, her nickname in the family was "Dr. Bertha." One of the things that she loved to do was cook and entertain. She had lots of help from a family of bakers, cooks and caterers. She often helped out her twin cousins Martha and Mary in their catering business. If someone wanted food that not only tasted good but looked good, they called on mom. At Friendship Baptist Church she served many years as the person in charge of the church kitchen. If it can be said that mom had a hobby, that hobby would be collecting items that she considered to be antiques. She filled shelves and stuffed a china cabinet full of glasses, plates and figurines, and assorted knick knacks that she felt were valuable antiques and will someday be worth a fortune. Just ask her children about the Big Bird cookie jar. She also held many a yard sale over the years. She also liked to shop and was always fashionably dressed and impeccably groomed. She was often called "glamour girl" when she was young and received many compliments. She was truly a beautiful woman inside and out. She loved children and felt blessed to have so many people that call her mom, grandma and nana. Mom loved the Lord and when she returned to Powhatan, she joined Mount Zion Baptist Church. She attended church regularly until her health began to fail. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Alfred, brothers Freddie, George, Paulus, Raymond, Benjamin and Julian, sisters, Nanny, Susie, Elsie, and Nancy. Bertha leaves to cherish her memory: eight children, five sons and three daughters, Joyce Johnson of Powhatan, Theophilus Gray (April) of Powhatan, Patrick Gray (Denise) of Clayton, NC, Alfred Byrd Gray of Powhatan, Angela Leonard (Kevin) of Coram, NY, Stephanie Gray (Darnell Carter) of Woodbridge, VA, Ricky Gray (Kisha Trent) of Cumberland, VA, and Earl Gray of Coram, NY; eleven grandchildren, one granddaughter preceded her in death; five greatgrandchildren, one brother-in-law, King Moses Gray of Powhatan, and a host of nieces, nephews, two devoted: Stanley Hicks of Powhatan, VA and George Hicks of Phoenix City, AL, cousins and friends. I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not….. Isaiah 41:13