Margery Joann Gray

The pearly gates opened up for our mother, JoAnn (Me-Mom), on November 12, 2017. She is now in the arms of her Lord and Savior and walking the streets of gold. Margery JoAnn was born July 4, 1935, to Edward F. and Dorothy Rose (Creed) Gallup in Mountain Grove, Missouri. She passed away at 82 years of age.

Momma was five years old when she would walk to church alone. She knew she loved Jesus and each step she took she was building her mansion. How beautiful it must be. Carrying that faith all her life, she instilled it in her children and generations to come. That’s the first thing her family and anyone who knew her would say about her.

At nine years of age, she ran the family business, Snow White Laundy, with her little bulldog, Mickey, and her monkey, George. Oh the stories she told about George. Momma enjoyed getting on the train every weekend to meet her dad in Thayer, Missouri, and she would return on Sunday.

In 1949, she met her husband, James. They were married in Arkansas. They moved to Denver, Colorado, and returned to Missouri in 1951 and started their family of eight. The family returned to Colorado several times, their son, Michael’s, final resting place.

Our mother knew no stranger and never had an enemy. She sold Avon for 41 years, becoming a District Manager and winning many awards and trips. Her pride was her Alby dolls she received for every $10,000 she sold. She also sold Beeline clothes. Her mother would drive them and they would load all the clothes, take them into homes, have ladies model the clothes, and have a grand time. She also sold Tupperware, Jafra Premier Design Jewelry, and Pampered Chef. For Pampered Chef events, she would have ladies into her home, cooking and enjoying the feast.

She was a fantastic cook. She could take nothing and make it into something. She was best known for her potato salad and sunshine cake. Her specialties were requested at every church gathering. She was known to many as Momma Gray. When anyone entered her home, they received hugs and then were offered something to eat and drink. She loved to watch her humming birds and squirrels. She always looked forward to Wednesday, when she got her weekly paper. As a family growing up, plenty of time was spent at the lake, boating and fishing. There was nothing like waking up to the smell of bacon and eggs and cowboy coffee, as she called it. Strong enough to float an iron rod. As the family grew larger and larger, the best approach was to rent cabins and RVs so the family could be there together. The family especially loved being together on the 4th of July, her birthday. The celebrations were phenomenal. The memories are instilled in us forever and will always be reminisced and cherished.

Mother was a storyteller and loved to talk. The family loved to hear stories of how the family got to this part of the country by covered wagons and on horseback from the Smokey Mountains. Mother was always a caregiver and caretaker. She babysat hundreds of children. Most of them didn’t even want to go home. She went into homecare and took care of the elderly. She was so loving, kind, and patient. Family members wanted her care when it became their time. Mother always took better care of others than she took of herself.

When going shopping in Springfield, she always wanted to go to Dollar Tree. No matter how rich she was, that was her first choice. Momma also had a knack for old cars. She could look at one and tell you exactly what it was and had a story to go with it.

Momma had a special little friend, her little dog Charlie, and he was always trying to take care of her. She would give him a dollar and he’d take it to her daughter, Pam, then he’d go back for the bank card and then he was ready to go to town. Every night, he was given a piece of cheese. Momma would say “Go get more.” After his second piece of cheese, he was ready for bed.

She was an avid reader. It would be difficult to go to the Christian section in the library and find a book she hadn’t read. It wasn’t unusual to find her still reading at 5:00 AM. She always had her Bible on the bed with her to read scriptures. She highlighted several scriptures and lived by faith every day. She prayed many, many prayers over the phone. She always believed to “take it to the Lord in prayer” and “that’s what knees were made for”. We will all miss Momma’s prayers the most. The most precious thing in mother’s life was her family. She always said “May the circle never be broken”.

JoAnn was preceded in death by her parents, Edward Gallup and Dorothy Manly, one son, Michael James Gray, one brother, Billy Gallup, one sister, Bonnie Parker, and one grandchild, Cherish Hill.

She is survived by two sons, James Joseph Gray, Jr. of Branson, Missouri, and Dennis Edward Gray of Mountain Grove, Missouri, five daughters, Donna Driscoll of Springfield, Missouri, Pamela Gray of Mountain Grove, Missouri, Debra Williams and her husband, Tommy, of Elk Creek Missouri, Lisa Gray of Excelsior Springs, Missouri, and Karen Hill and her husband, Mark, of Norwood, Missouri, sixteen grandchildren, Jennifer, Andrew, Wheat, Wind, Sky, Shawn, Shane, Tanner, B.J. Adam, London, Candice, Josh, Bryson, Chance, and Maggie, thirteen great-grandchildren, Jillian, Jacquelyn, Alijah, Chloe, Aubrey, Lilly, Blaine, Austin, McKinley, Lucas, Mason, Remington, and Miley, and many other relatives and friends who will sadly miss her.