Charlotte Lorayne Gray

Charlotte Lorayne Gray, the dearly beloved and forever cherished, recently joined her Lord in Heaven. Her passing occurred on April 2, 2007 at a Fort Worth hospital, after years of struggling with her health, she passed peacefully in her sleep with her husband and children by her side.Charlotte blessed this world with her existence when she was born on October 22, 1947 in Weatherford, Texas. There she was reared with four sisters, by a strong, single mother. To merely "mention" her mother and sisters would be a travesty in her mind, because her mother and sisters meant the world to her. Charlotte, her mother and sisters were an unbreakable chain. Through thick and thin they supported each other and gave each other strengths that cannot be expressed in words. Her mother was her pillar. She admired every detail about her and would want her to be exalted at this time.Charlotte married her husband of 41 years on July 3, 1966, and remained lovingly faithful and devoted to him until her passing. Their relationship was a testament to the institute of marriage and an example for all to follow.From their blessed union came three children for whom every action, thought and decision was made in the past 38 years. Despite many adversities and heartaches in her life, she fought to give her children the best that life had to offer. Sacrificing her own needs at times, Charlotte was determined to give endlessly for the happiness and success of her children. She was a strong, loving, admirable mother who could balance the difficult tasks of nurturing, providing for and guiding her children according to God's will, and did it almost to perfection. Later she accomplished a similar task by being a grandmother to her grandchildren who became her light and happiness during recent years.Against most odds, Charlotte went back to school at the budding young age of 36. The thought of obtaining a college degree at this point in her life seemed very unlikely. However, she knew that in order to set a good example for her children, to give them the life that she wanted them to have and one day be able to help adequately take care of her own mother during her elder years, she would have to work as hard as humanly possible to complete her education. In doing so, she gained a new respect for education and encouraged and supported not only her own children, but her nieces and nephews as well, to strive for excellence and receive as much education as possible. As the first in her family to graduate college, she received her Associates degree from Weatherford College, a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from The Southwest Assembly of God where she graduated sum cum lade. She later attended law school at Texas Wesleyan University.Amidst all of her quests in gaining her education, she began and blossomed a respectable career with the United States Government. She began as a clerk typist at the department of Housing and Urban Development in October 1986. She worked for HUD for over 20 years and excelled at her job. She had a passion for her work's mission and was very thankful to God for blessing her with the opportunity of working there. During the years she worked for HUD, she made and maintained many valuable friendships with her co-workers that she cherished very much.Above all else, she had a very close relationship with God. Charlotte was the epitome of Christianity. She constantly studied God's word and worshipped Him in everything she did, even after becoming too ill to attend church services. She entrusted everything to God and relied solely on His will to guide her through her life. This was evident in her interactions with everyone she came in contact with. She was selfless, giving, compassionate, color blind, loving, humble, innocent and pure. She took the pain of the world into her heart and would have given anything to erase the pain of others. She