February 3, 1937 — August 15, 2023

Robert Craig Hartley Gray, 86, died peacefully on Aug. 15, 2023, from ongoing health complications in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Craig was born Feb. 3, 1937 in New Haven, Conn., son of William Hartley and Barbara Gray. Both parents tragically passed at a very young age and Craig was adopted by his grandmother and grew up in Waterbury, Conn. He graduated from Riverdale Country School and went on to attend University of Connecticut.

Craig married Barbara Jean Carroll of Waterbury, Conn., and moved to Biddeford in 1961. After having his son, Darryl Caleb Gray, he moved his young family to Bridgton to settle down and start an English teaching career at Bridgton High School. He welcomed his second child, Christine Jean Gray. The family spent time at their summer homes on Highland Lake and the “Gray Farm” off Ingalls Road.

Craig moved his family from Bridgton to Danvers, Mass., in 1969 where he started his teaching career with Essex Agricultural School. Craig started a new fencing program for St. John’s Preparatory School in 1974 from the ground up with his competitive nature and coach mentality. In 1995, Craig was honored into the St. John’s Preparatory Lifetime Athletic Hall of Fame, preceded by his son, who was induced in 1992 to become the first father and son inductees into the Hall of Fame.

Craig loved fishing and hunting. Any family trip would include fishing when his family would canoe the Saco with his brother Curtis Gray, and uncle Bill Gray.

Craig is survived by his son, Darryl Caleb Gray and his grandkids Joseph Tyler Gray and Nikki Lee Ditty (Gray), and his two great-grandkids and his daughter, Christine Jean McGuire and her daughter Kaitlin McGuire, his ex-wife Barbara Jean Gray and his partner Barbara Goldman.

Condolences and tributes may be sent to graydsnj@gmail. com.