Published in the Austin American-Statesman on 9/1/2004.

The Rev. J. Patrick Gray died on August 28, 2004, at the Capital Hospice in Arlington, Virginia. He had pancreatic cancer, which was diagnosed in mid June. He was 50 years old. A native of Houston, Texas, Patrick graduated from Spring Woods High School there in 1972 and cum laude from the University of St, Thomas also in Houston, in 1976 with a BA in english literature. He was a Winant-Clayton volunteer in Manchester, England, where he worked with physically disabled children. Called to the ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church, he earned the MDiv degree from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1980 and was ordained deacon in the Diocese of Texas at his home parish, St. Christopher's Houston, and ordained priest at St. Mary's Lampasas, Texas. He served the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Texas at St. Mary's Lampasas, St. John's Carthage, and The Church of the Holy Spirit in Houston, where he was assistant and then interim rector. In 1987, he was called as rector to the historic Church of the Cross in Bluffton, South Carolina. He returned to the Washington DC area in 1989 and served in the Diocese of Virginia as interim rector at Emmanuel Church on Russell Road in Alexandria, and Trinity, Arlington, and as priest assistant at St. Luke's in Alexandria and Trinity, Manassas, where he has served since the mid '90s. His passions were preaching and teaching and was particularly pleased to be an honorary chaplain for St.Stephen's and St. Agnes School in Alexandria. Concurrently with his parish work, Patrick earned the MALS degree from Georgetown University in 1992 with an emphasis in international affairs, and completed his work for a JD from the Washington College of Law at American University in 1997. He was committed to issues of human rights, particularly religious freedom in the former Soviet Union, and the relationship between the KGB and the orthodox church. He was a consultant for religious liberty to the Institute for Religion and Democracy and law clerk at the Ackerson Group in Washington, DC. also in the 1990s. Forced to retire by ill health in 1998, he continued to teach and preach when he was able. Loved by many for his quick wit, boundless sense of humor, encyclopedic knowledge of rock and roll music, and his devotion to academic and religious life. Patrick is survived by his wife of 26 years, and fellow student at Virginia Theological Seminary, Harriet Hutson Gray and their children, sons, Tyler and Kevin and daughter, Rebecca, as well as their sheepdog and cats, all of Falls Church, Virginia. He is also survived by his sister, Linda Gray Hooker of Katy, Texas. He was preceded in death by his parents, Dale and Jonnie Gray of Houston, Texas.