06
August
2018
|
07:43 AM
America/Chicago

“It could say on my grave marker, ‘He enjoyed trying to make good things happen.’ ”

“Our paths through life have been as good as you can get..."

Herb and Carolyn

After his service in the U.S. Navy, Herb Gray missed the application deadline for Texas Tech University in Lubbock and instead enrolled at Trinity University in his hometown. He figured he’d transfer the following year.

“But then I fell in love with Trinity, and I fell in love with a girl at Trinity,” Gray says. “We’ve been married now for 65 years and counting.”

Two graduate degrees, two careers, four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren later, Herb and Carolyn Gray have a philosophical take on their journey together.

“Our paths through life have been as good as you can get,” Herb says. “It’s been in the hands of God.”

Their journey has been punctuated with plenty of visits to Whataburger, where both order a Whataburger Jr. and an apple pie, sometimes with a side of small French fries.

“We’ve been known to go three times per week,” Carolyn says.

Tell us about who you are:

Herb: “I was in the personnel office at Kelly Air Force Base for 40 years. I became chief of labor and employee relations, and I went to law school. Never got into being a lawyer, but certainly a member of the Texas Bar.”

Carolyn: “I taught elementary school for 31 years. I always enjoyed learning and pursuing education. Now, we like to go to movies with friends on Friday evenings and do things with our church.”

What do you want people to remember about you?

Carolyn: “That I was a mother who loved her children. We’re fortunate that our children don’t live far from us. I’m proud of them all. They work hard, and they are good people.”

Herb: “I have a high regard for accepting people as they are. And something I’ve stressed to our kids is to work at making good things happen.”

Would that be good advice for your younger self, too?

Herb: “I’ve definitely had it on my mind all my life. It could say on my grave marker, ‘He enjoyed trying to make good things happen.’”

Carolyn: “You should write that down.”

 


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