Death Ends Active Dartmouth Life
WILLIAM R. GRAY '04 WON LOVE OF ASSOCIATES AS TRUSTEE,DEAN OF TUCK SCHOOL, AND LEADER IN COMMUNITY
DEAN GRAY of the Amos Tuck School died at Dick's House on the morning of March 31, where he had been confined practically continuously since last November. Ever since his early youth a victim of the gout and, more recently, afflicted with chronic vascular nephritis, he finally was forced to yield to a disease that even his quiet resolute resistance could not overcome.
The simple but impressive funeral services were conducted in St. Thomas Episcopal Church, on April 2, by Bishop Dallas, the Rev. John U. Harris and the Rev. Allan Clark. The church was banked high with beautiful flowers, silent tributes from his many friends and from the groups with which he was associated. In attendance were ranking officers and trustees of the College and fellow workers in the Tuck School, representatives of the student body, of the Class of 1904, and innumerable friends. The bearers were D. S. Austin, D. S. Rollins, from his Class, L. B. Richardson, E. B. Watson, of the College Faculty, Dr. J. P. Bowler, of the Hospital, and H. C. Edgerton, Treasurer of the College. Burial was in the Hanover Cemetery, just across the mall from the Tuck School from which he never wished to be separated. One of the Trustees after the services wrote, "I hope the peace and beauty of the service in St. Thomas' gave comfort in the same degree, as it seemed to so many of Bill's friends to express the fineness of his life. As I rode to Hanover and back, I thought again and again that Bill possessed the rare quality of Christian spirit and fortitude almost more than anyone I can think of."
BORN IN AURORA, 111.
William Rensselaer Gray was born in Aurora, Illinois, September 27, 1879, the son of Frederick and Rella (Davis) Gray. He attended the public schools there, graduating from the West High School at the age of sixteen. Having set his mind on going to college, he accepted a government position in Washington for the next four years and saved money so that he could enter Dartmouth with the Class of 1904. As an undergraduate he was recognized as a natural leader and throughout his four years enjoyed the affection and confidence of the student body. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi, and Sphinx, both of which organizations retained his active interest during his later years in Hanover. He was elected to the Aegis Board, chosen to be manager of the football team, and a member of Palaeopitus.
An alumnus has written of Bill, "We never had any classes together or errands in common later in life, but as an undergraduate always searching the class above for its finer men, I came to regard him as an ideal. He never seemed to be seeking the glamour of events in college days and yet his quiet, friendly firmness for the square thing and his judgment which always took into account the deeper character values was a guide for many of us."
At the last meeting of the Trustees of the College the following resolutions which were adopted indicate the services he rendered to the College:
"Dean Gray was graduated from the College in 1904. The succeeding year he spent in post-graduate work making an intensive study of accounting methods, supplementing practical experience which he had received in the United States Department of the Treasury where he was employed be fore coming to college. Meanwhile, he did the required work in the Tuck School and qualified for his degree with the Class of 1905.
"Immediately he was appointed Instructor in Accounting; in 1908 was made an assistant professor; in 1914 was advanced to a full professorship; and in 1919 was made Dean of the School. From the first he was a capable teacher and gradually he became a great one. Transferred to the administrative headship of the School in 1919, though still carrying the responsibilities of his professorship, he brought about a coordination and concentration of the courses of the School to the end that their principal functions should be recognized as those common to the administration of all types of business enterprise rather than providing facilities for narrow specialization in particular fields. This was his interpretation of the particular objective to which the School ought to devote itself, and to this thesis the School has since held under his guidance. Under such direction of this policy it has steadily increased in prestige.
"Meanwhile, his career is a record of invaluable service whenever this service could be made applicable to the needs of government, in nation, state, or town. Courageously overcoming the handicap of ill health for years, self-effacing in his modesty, and always available for friendly counsel or assistance to anyone who sought these from him, he became one of the most valuable citizens in the community. So far as his services to the College are concerned, these practically began with his admission to college, for even as an undergraduate he was solicitous for the College good name and an active contributor to all undergraduate movements which made for the betterment of the College. His service to Dartmouth, .therefore, continuously covered a period of nearly four decades, and it is in careers such as his and in the contributions which they make to College betterment that the most significant endowment of the College lies.
"If, however, he had never made any other contribution to Dartmouth's welfare than his service on the Board of Trustees, it would have been difficult to exaggerate the worth which he contributed to the College in making available his counsel and placing at the disposal of the Trustees his fine judgment on all matters having to do with academic affairs.
"Work so well done as was his cannot be called incomplete, but it is difficult to avoid disappointment that values to the College so great could not have been long continued. In grateful appreciation and in affectionate regard for a friendship which they deeply valued, as well as in appreciation of a creative imagination which made for institutional steadiness, the Trustees would emphasize the happiness of associations which have been theirs with Dean Gray rather than emphasize their grief that the College and they may not possess these longer."
In similar vein the Faculty of the Tuck School tried to express their appreciation of the man and his contribution to the School in these words:
"During his administration the student body has more than doubled in size, our new plant has been developed and erected, and the reputation of the School has been greatly enhanced. His leadership and direction of the affairs of the School were largely instrumental in these accomplishments.
"Of quiet manner, avoiding hastily formed judgments, yet firm in his convictions, he impressed us all with the clearness of his thinking and fairness of his decisions. Never was any man more honest and upright and free of pettiness. Even ill health failed to daunt his courage or swerve him from what was right and honorable. His counsel was open to all and eagerly sought by students, faculty and alumni. He was highly respected by the students and affectionately regarded by the alumni. As a Faculty, we valued his advice and appreciated his friendship. We have been a happy family under his leadership."
On Christmas day, following his graduation from the Tuck School, he was married to Lucia May Shattuck, who survives him, and with whom he lived in complete devotion and happiness to the very end. He immediately entered into community affairs and gradually extended his usefulness into wider fields. Of all the responsibilities which he accepted and the honors which were tendered him, the most gratifying was his election as Trustee of the College in 1926. This opportunity to serve the College of which he was so fond, was an honor greater than anything else that could have been bestowed upon him. His election to honorary membership in the Dartmouth Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was another deserved tribute which helped to brighten his last days.
HAD ESTIMABLE RECORD AS CITIZEN
Bill's record as a citizen was as complete as that in the service of the College. He was Director of the Ordinance Training School at Dartmouth in 1917 and 1918, and Chief of the Division, Business Department, Commission on Education and Special Training, in the War Department in Washington from September, 1918 to May, 1919. Continuously his counsel was sought by leaders in the business world. Early in his career he qualified as a Certified Public Accountant, but the demands upon him extended far beyond the field of accounting. Specific recognition of his ability was given in his election as a Director of the Connecticut River Power Company in 1933. From a man of national prominence has come this expression of judgment: "In such undertakings (development of a sane labor policy for American business men) hopeless though they have seemed, Mr. Gray strengthened my faith and helped to broaden my judgment. I could think of no better way to serve his memory than to carry on along the lines we had discussed and in the spirit with which he inspired his Faculty and his students."
Few men in their capacity as private citizens have contributed more to the welfare of the town than did Bill Gray. He was one of the original incorporators of the Hanover Improvement Society and remained active in the conduct of its affairs to the time of his death. He served on various committees, notably one of which he was chairman and which made a thorough study of and report on municipal finances, projecting the needs of the community for the succeeding ten years. The following excerpt appears in a recent vote of the Improvement Society: "In the formulation of policies for the guidance of the Society his voice always was in defense of the public interest. As one who gave unselfish devotion to any cause by which the community might be bettered, his memory will be cherished by his colleagues in this Society."
The two causes to which he gave greatest devotion, outside of the College, were his church and the Mary Hitchcock Hospital. Long an ardent and loyal worker in and supporter of the local Episcopal Church, he was also a member of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire and, in 1933, was elected a trustee of Holderness School for Boys, in Plymouth, New Hampshire. To him, Bishop Dallas and his successors here have turned constantly for aid and advice. For many years a Trustee of the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, he was President of the Board from 1925 to 1936.
Dean Gray's reputation as an educator was not confined to Hanover. He was one of the leaders in the formation of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Business and was its President in 1922. He was also a member of the American Economic Association, the American Association of University Professors, and the Association of University Instructors of Accounting. One long associated with him in teaching has described him thus: "The College has lost a wise administrator, and the alumni of the past thirty years as well as his colleagues have lost a friend whom they admired and respected because of his exceptional combination of qualities—keenness of intellectual perception and of thought, sympathetic understanding of human nature, patient tolerance, and steadfast integrity. Because of these qualities his influence will remain a living force among his colleagues and the many students who have had the privilege of working with him:"
It is proper that final tribute should be paid to Bill by the Class of 1904 to whom he belonged. In the words of a classmate, "There is nobody in the Class for whom we all had a greater admiration and deeper affection than for him, both for what he has always been in integrity and force of character and also for what he has accomplished in his work for the College. He has always been, in my mind, the chief honor of the Class of 1904, and particularly as he has done his work and held his important positions with such modesty and graciousness, and has met the limitations of health with fine courage and patience."
DEAN WILLIAM R. GRAY '04 Who died on March 31 after an illness ofseveral months.
