Charles M. Gray

Charles "Chuck" Michael Gray died at St Joseph Hospital, Denver , Colorado on December 31, 2023.   Chuck was born May 27, 1943 at Des Moines ,Iowa to Joseph and Mildred Gray.    Chuck had an older brother , Giles "Guy," and a younger sister, Mary Ann.    Chuck is preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Guy.   He leaves behind his loving wife, Christine, of 55 years, their daughter, Anna (David) of Castle Pines , Colorado, son Michael (Elizabeth) of Castle Pines , Colorado, and son Pete (Jennifer) of Poughkeepsie, NY and eight grandchildren - Adeline Grace, Thomas Giles, Liam James - children of Anna and David;  Jane Elizabeth, Abby Christine, Eleanor Hope, and Charles "Charlie" Fletcher, children of Mike and Liz, and Elliot Ramsey, son of Pete and Jennifer.
     Chuck’s Dad was  a truck driver for A & P trucking company.     During his  childhood  years, the family alternated between living in  Davenport and living in Des Moines.   Chuck graduated from Assumption High School in 1960, spent his 1st year of college at St Ambrose College in Davenport before he transferred to Iowa State University where he graduated  in Aerospace Engineering in December 1965.   Chuck had a great desire to learn to ski, and thus came to Colorado to work for Martin Marietta corporation in January 1966.
        In August 1967, Chuck took his first vacation from his job at Martin Marietta and traveled to Japan to visit his brother and sister-in-law, Donna, who were stationed at the USAF base outside of Tokyo.    It was on that trip Chuck met his future wife Christine.
          Chuck and Chris were married in Brisbane, Australia on December 14, 1968.   By then, Guy and Donna were stationed at Clark USAF base in the Philippines and Guy flew to Brisbane to be best man for Chuck at his wedding.  After a honeymoon hip hopping across the Pacific, the newlyweds settled in the United States.
            In June 1972, Chuck went to work in Silver Spring, Maryland for the Computer Science Corporation.    It was while living in Bowie, MD, that Chuck and Chris’s three children - Anna, Mike, and Pete - were born.   In October 1978, Chuck, Chris and family moved to Littleton, CO and Chuck returned to Martin Marietta.  While working at Martin, soon to be called Lockheed Martin, Chuck worked on various satellite programs including Titan, Eutelstat, Echostar, Mars Observer and Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS).    Chuck loved his work and the whole family loved when we would go to the Kennedy Space Center to see a launch. 
               Chuck retired from Lockheed Martin in 2004.    Since then, he and Chris have traveled extensively both within the US and Hawaii as well as overseas trips to Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.    Chuck loved to travel and loved to plan trips, always done on a spreadsheet!   No detail was ever missed.
                  In 2006, Chuck became a grandpa for the first time.    Chuck loved being a grandpa and loved his grandkids deeply.     Chuck is going to be deeply missed by all of his family.    We all relied upon him for so much.

     
Reception immediately following in the Great Hall.

Open House at the Gray Residence, starting around 3 pm.   

 

Feel free to attend all or any part of our funeral day 


In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Chuck’s name to
            Cross Catholic Outreach (https://crosscatholic.org/) -This non profit organization provides hope to those in need.   Each year, hospital ships filled with volunteer professionals provide life changing surgeries to those in need.
                           or  
   Team Rubicon (https://teamrubiconusa.org/) - A non profit organization helping families and communities recover from deadly natural disasters.  This is a veteran led organization that serves global communities.