Blanche Gray

Blanche Agnes Gray, 101, a resident of Fergus Falls, died peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, March 24, 2011, at the Pioneer Care Center in Fergus Falls. She was born December 18, 1909, in Frazee, Minnesota, the daughter of Grova and Grace (Weymouth) Botts. She graduated from Frazee High School in 1928, and attended Nurses Training at Wright Memorial Hospital in Fergus Falls and at the University of Minnesota. It was at the university where she met Harold R. Street, and they were married on August 23, 1933 in Milbank, South Dakota. Blanche worked as a private duty nurse in Fergus Falls, later returning to Minneapolis to work with her husband in research at the University of Minnesota. The couple moved to New Haven, Connecticut in 1936, where she did volunteer nursing work. In 1938 the family moved to Columbus, Ohio, and then to Albany, New York until 1943. Her husband was in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. The family lived there until 1944, when Harold was sent overseas. She returned to Fergus Falls at that time. Her husband was killed in November of 1944. In the summer of 1945 she began working as a nurse at Wright Memorial Hospital in Fergus Falls, specializing in obstetrics, and she also continued at St. Luke’s Hospital for a time. In 1952 she began a new career as a nurse at the Fergus Falls State Hospital, where she remained until her retirement in 1975 as a charge nurse. Blanche was known as an accomplished knitter, and passed on those skills by teaching students to knit. She enjoyed doing volunteer work, was involved with the Camp Fire Girls program, and was an avid reader, belonging to book clubs and assisting with the reading program at Adams Elementary School. She received recognition from the State of Minnesota for her invention of a drug cart. On July 16, 1971, she married Harold Gray and they made their home in Fergus Falls. He died on July 9, 2006. Preceding her in death were both of her husbands, and her siblings, Adelbert, Floyd, George, and Fay Botts, and Alice Olson. Survivors include her three children: Paul (Mary) Street of St. Paul, Marjory (Jerry) Shearer of Beaumont, CA, and Linda Hite of Mankato; 13 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.  Visitation: One hour prior to the service at the Pioneer Home Memorial Service: 1 p.m. Friday, April 1, 2011 at the Pioneer Home in Fergus Falls Clergy: Chaplain Harry Olson Interment: Oak Grove Cemetery in Fergus Falls, Minnesota Funeral Home: Olson Funeral Home in Fergus Falls, Minnesota Memorials are preferred to the donors choice.