Paul John Gray

Paul John Gray, one of the founders of the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality, Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee, died of Parkinson’s disease on December 3, 2023, in his home in Walla Walla, Washington, at the age of 78.

At a young age, Paul exhibited concern for people less fortunate than himself. While a student at Duquesne University, he volunteered to help renovate a dilapidated house in a ghetto of Pittsburgh known as the Hill District. The house was then used as a center to integrate recovering alcoholics into society.

While in Graduate School, during the Federal Government’s War on Poverty, Paul was hired as Special Assistant to the Mayor of Mount Vernon, New York, with the specific task of going daily into the tenement buildings to assess needs and propose and organize solutions, especially for youth who lived in wretched conditions.

After earning a master’s degree in Catholic Theology from Manhattan College, New York, he spent over forty years teaching theology on the college level and working professionally for the Catholic Church in parishes in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Tennessee in the field of religious education and Christian formation. In every position, Paul created programs to meet the needs of individuals and families experiencing houselessness.

In 2006, Paul and his wife, Judy, joined with close friends in founding the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality, Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee. Now, seventeen years later, there are three Houses providing temporary housing and support services to assist families suffering from poverty and houselessness.

After serving seven years as parish administrator for the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Paul retired in 2009, then focusing on writing, presenting workshops, directing retreats, teaching in the Diocesan Institute for Liturgy and Spirituality, and serving on the Ministry Team for the Dorothy Day House.

Paul was known for his faith in God, for gentleness, kindness, wisdom, and constant outreach to the less fortunate. He was friend, mentor, guide, teacher, and inspiration to many, many people. He will be deeply missed.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Paul Lawrence Gray and Teresa Agnes O’Hara Gray, and a sister, Betty Gray Byrnes. He is survived by his brother, Richard E. Gray of Greensburg, Pennsylvania; by his wife, Judith Myers Gray; and by their children, Diane Gray-Chamberlain (Randy), Susie Gray-Miller, Jack Gray, Michael Gray (Jennifer), Stephen Gray, Katie Gray-Rogers, Sarah Gray (Lisa Bailey); and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Memorial gifts in Paul’s honor may be sent to the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality, PO Box 40269, Memphis TN 38174-0269.