[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF VICTOR M. GRAY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 9, 1999

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, it is with deep sadness that I inform the 
House of the death of Victor M. Gray of California, Missouri.
  Victor Gray was born July 15, 1912, in Hendrick, IL, a son of Homer 
F. and Anna Burrus Gray. He was a graduate of the University of 
Missouri, where he earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture in 1937.
  Gray's career in public service and agriculture began immediately 
after his graduation from the University of Missouri. From 1937 to 1948 
he worked for the Agricultural Extension Service. After his initial 
service to the state of Missouri, Gray worked in the private sector, 
owning and operating a farm machinery company for two years. Victor 
Gray was a livestock marketing specialist with the Producer's Livestock 
Marketing Association-National Stockyard, Illinois, and manager of the 
Farm Bureau Service Co. from 1953 to 1957. He served as director of the 
Missouri Department of Agriculture's Feed and Seed Division in 1957 
and, in 1959, became the Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture's Feed 
and Seed Division in 1957 and, in 1959, became the Assistant 
Commissioner of Agriculture until 1963. He was the director of 
legislative programs for Missouri Farm Bureau from November 1963 until 
he retired in August 1977.
  Victor Gray served as the executive secretary of the Missouri 
Association of Fairs and was a member of the Board of Governors of the 
American Royal Livestock Show in Kansas City, Mo. He was the past 
President of American Lung Association-Western Division; past chairman 
of the County Soil and Water Conservation Districts; former vice 
president of the County Farm Bureau; and former chairman of the 
Missouri Hazardous Waste Committee. He served as district 
representative of the Missouri Farm Bureau Rural Health and Safety 
Committee.
  Victor Gray was an active member in the community. A member of the 
Gamma Sigma Delta agricultural fraternity, he received the Award of 
Merit from the society's Missouri chapter and the State Star Farmer 
Award from the Missouri FFA. He was a 50-year member of the California 
Lodge 183, A.F. & A.M., and the Royal Arch Masons Chapter in 
California. He was a member of the United Methodist Church of 
California.
  Gray was preceded in death by his wife, Anna in 1991. He is survived 
by his niece, Sandra Gray Dietzel; three great-nieces, two great-great 
nieces and three great-great nephews. I know that this body joins me in 
expressing sympathy to the family of this great Missourian.

                          ____________________