Joel Gray

Joel Edward Gray, passed away on Thursday, October 19, 2017, at age 77.

Born December 23, 1939, in Birmingham, Alabama, to Edward R. and Sadie Cooper Gray, he was the oldest of eight children. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne in Europe during the Berlin Crisis. During his military service he was European ping pong champion and active in basketball and baseball. Joel became a successful businessman with Allen Edmund Company and retired as a resident in Orange Beach, Alabama. He had a very outgoing and loving nature and he has left behind an army of friends everywhere he went. He will be greatly missed by all.

Joel attended Blessed Sacrament Elementary School and John Carroll High School in Birmingham. He continued his involvement with the Catholic Church in Atlanta and Orange Beach. He made numerous mission trips across US and abroad with the church. Joel was proud of his Catholic faith and was very devoted.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Edward R. and Sadie Cooper Gray; and sister, Regina Gray Adams.

Joel is survived by his son, Marc-Alan; grandson, Nils; siblings, Marcia Bailey, John Gray (Betty), Herbert Gray (Sherry), Geraldine Turner (Jim), Ed Gray (Joan), and Ben Gray (Neysa); many cousins, including Bobbi Carol Smith; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, October 21, 2017, from 1-2 PM at Currie-Jefferson Funeral Home in Hoover, Alabama. The service will begin at 2 PM in the Chapel and the burial will immediately follow at Jefferson Memorial Gardens, South.

In lieu of flowers, the family request donations be made in honor of Joel to either: The American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) or St. Thomas-By-The-Sea Catholic Church in Orange Beach, Alabama (www.stthomasbythesea.org).

Visitation

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ,Saturday, October 21, 2017
Currie-Jefferson Funeral Home Chapel
2701 John Hawkins Parkway Hoover, AL 35244

Funeral Service

2:00 PM ,Saturday, October 21, 2017
Currie-Jefferson Funeral Home Chapel
2701 John Hawkins Parkway Hoover, AL 35244

Interment

Saturday, October 21, 2017
Jefferson Memorial Gardens, South
2701 John Hawkins Parkway Hoover, AL 35244