Claude Gray passed away on Jan. 26, 2018, after a short stay at Sheridan Manor. He was born June 2, 1929, at home in a colonial house on Apple Street in the New England town of Essex, Massachusetts.

He had three older sisters, Madeline, Sylvia, and Elizabeth, who all doted on him, but he refused to be spoiled. As a lad in a small town, he would frequently go off with his dog Nifty and his .22 into the woods and salt marsh, often coming home well after dark to the chagrin of his mother.

He joined the U.S. Navy in 1947 after graduating from Gloucester High School. He married Sandra Auditore in 1954 and would have been married 64 years this July. He then was employed by various tree companies as one of the best tree men in the area and was sought after for his expertise in the business. He spent time in the Maine woods working as a lumberjack for Great Northern Paper Company.

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