Wesley Duayne Gray Obituary (2024)

Wesley Duayne Gray at the age of 89 passed away on February 19th, 2024. He was born on October 10th, 1934 in Ellensburg Washington. He was a fourth generation Gray descendant of the Kittitas Valley. Wesley went to school in Ellensburg and graduated from Central Washington University with a degree in Industrial Arts. In 1957, he went into the Army where he was stationed in two different bases in Germany. After college and the Army, Wesley started to work with the U.S. Forrest Service where he worked for 39 years until retirement. He started out as a Lookout on the Quartz Mountain lookouts 40-foot tower, followed by some brief assignments on the Taneum Point Lookout and Frost Mountain Lookout. In 1954 he was the first employee to man the newly built Taneum Camp Guard Station house. He made the side walk there while on duty. He then served as an Engineer for the bulk of his career surveying roads, marking timber, planting trees, fighting forest fires, and planning logging roads. One of his favorite assignments was managing livestock allotments, where he got to ride the range with his horse and local ranchers. Upon retirement, he did machine work and enjoyed his small ranch raising cattle and horses. Wesley loved the mountains where he recreated riding snowmobiles in the winter, but in the summer, he liked to go hiking and ride horses. He had a love for speed, and enjoyed racing snowmobiles and hydro planes. One of his favorite hobbies was hydro plane racing where he built and designed his own in 1962. He raced for 8 years and then returned to the sport later in life at age 78! He did the locate vintage circuit showing his special boat. Wesley met JoAnne Rawley and they got married in Brewster, Washington in 1962. They were married 61 1/2 years raising their 3 children. He is survived by his wife JoAnne Gray, daughters Debbie (Dan) Snyder, Janet (George) Engle, and son Michael (Nichole) Gray. One of his greatest pride and joys was his grandchildren. Grandsons Cale and Callen Gray and his granddaughter, Cassie Gray. A graveside service will be held on Saturday, February 24, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Ellensburg, WA. www.brooksidefuneralhomes.com Graveside Service I.O.O.F Cemetery Saturday, February 24, 2024 11:00 AM 1900 Brick Road Ellensburg, WA 98926