Remembering a TV pioneer

From the 11 p.m. newscast on Channel 3:

Longtime Chattanooga TV weatherman John Gray has died at the age of 92.

Visitation for Mr. Gray will be at noon Sunday, November 26 at the Jim Rush Funeral Home, 2600 N. Ocoee Street in Cleveland, TN. It will be followed by a graveside service at Fort Hill Cemetery conducted by the Rev. Joel Hufstader of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

Mr. Gray died Tuesday, Nov. 21 in a Cleveland hospital. He was 92.

He was the 6 p.m. weatherman for WRCB-TV from 1956 until 1970. He also anchored the 11 p.m. news. From 1970 until 1979 he worked at WDEF-TV, where he did the evening weather reports.

WRCB Sports Director Randy Smith worked with Mr. Gray at WDEF from 1977 to 1979. He said, "Everybody trusted John. He didn't have the technology we have today, but he managed to get the forecast right, and he had a great voice that got your attention."

WRCB News Anchor David Carroll grew up watching Mr. Gray's weather reports, and remembers that "John Gray and newsman Mort Lloyd were an unbeatable team in this town until Mort's death in 1974. I interviewed John Gray back in the 1980's and it was an honor. He was proud of his place in Chattanooga's TV history, and he had every right to be."

Mr. Gray was born May 1, 1914 in Casey, Iowa, and was a graduate of the University of Iowa.

He served as a public relations officer for the U.S. Army during World War II, and then embarked on a broadcast career that included news and announcing posts at major CBS Radio affiliates including WBBM in Chicago and WGST in Atlanta. Before his television debut, he had a popular radio program, "Gray's Array," on Chattanooga's WDOD.

In Chicago he met his future wife, the former Amanda Thrasher of Chattanooga. They were married in 1942, and she died in 1996.

With her, he operated an antiques business, also called Gray's Array, and was one of the original organizers of the Plum Nelly Festival. They also had a gallery in Gatlinburg and were among the founders of Chattanooga's Northgate Gallery.

Mr. Gray was a generous contributor in the Cleveland charitable community, donating the Cultural Center of the Museum Center at Five Points in his late wife's memory, and providing major gifts to the Cleveland Public Library and its foundation.

Survivors include his sister, Mabel Artes, and nephew, Fred Artes, both of Golden, Colo.; and a niece, Barbara Bedell, of the Orcas Islands, Wash.

The Grays had no children, but honorary nieces and nephews are Mr. and Mrs. William Lillios, Mrs. Sally Nevin, Robert Rymer and John Teets and Mr. and Mrs. Bob Card, of Cleveland; Mr. and Mrs. Esmond Grosz, of Orange Lake, Fla.; and Mr. and Mrs. Hoyle Rymer, of DeLeon Springs, Fla.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Leah F. Hoyle Fund of the Cleveland Public Library.