[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15786]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE MEMORY OF JOSEPH WILLIAM McCRAY, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 19, 2009

  Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, the city of Mobile and indeed the entire 
state of Alabama recently lost a dear friend, and I rise today to honor 
him and pay tribute to his memory. Joseph William McCray Jr. was a 
devoted family man and an outstanding community leader.
  A native of Pensacola, Mr. McCray was raised in the Carver's Court 
neighborhood in north Mobile. He was a graduate of Central High School 
and attended Tennessee State University.
  A veteran of the U.S. Army, Mr. McCray dedicated over three decades 
to the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission Area Agency on Aging 
serving as the nutrition coordinator. He was instrumental in the 
development and operation of nutrition centers for the elderly in 
Mobile, Baldwin and Escambia counties. Following his retirement, he 
served as the director of the U.J. Robinson Memorial Adult Day Care 
Center. He had also served as the District 2 commissioner for Mobile's 
Human Relations Commission.
  Mr. McCray joined the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association (MAMGA) in 
the early 1970s and quickly became involved in all of the association's 
committees, including serving as financial secretary. He was 
instrumental in organizing MAMGA's joint functions with the Mobile 
Carnival Association. In 1992, Mr. McCray was elected as the third 
president of MAMGA and served until 1996. He is one of only a few men 
widely known as ``Mr. Mardi Gras.''
  Mr. McCray was a past president of 100 Black Men of Greater Mobile, 
and he recently received their coveted Achievement Award. He was also a 
3rd Degree Knights of St. Peter Claver and was a past president of the 
Comrades Social Club. An active member of his church, Prince of Peace 
Catholic Church, Mr. McCray served on the Parish Council, the Building 
and Grounds Committee, and many other affiliations within the parish.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering a man 
who dedicated his life to south Alabama. Mr. McCray will be dearly 
missed by his family--his wife of 44 years, Faye C. McCray; his son, 
Joseph McCray III; his sisters, Jolita Dorsett and Severia Norton; and 
his grandchildren, Julian Christopher and Reagan Michelle McCray--as 
well as the countless friends he leaves behind.
  Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time.

                          ____________________