Dorothy Pauline Gray

Dorothy P. Gray left this world peacefully at home with her children close at hand on Friday, December 18, 2020, following a courageous battle with cancer. She will always be remembered and loved by all who knew her.

Dorothy was born October 30,1931, barely missing being a Halloween baby, to Fred E. and Celine M. Geiger. She was the only child (of three) to be born in a hospital.

Growing up on the family homestead in Larkspur, Colorado, Dorothy went to a one-room schoolhouse for most of her education.  Some of the schoolteachers even stayed at the family home. Her very first job was working as a telephone operator.

Dorothy later met John E. “Buck" Gray and the two were married on July 22, 1951 at the little church in Palmer Lake, Colorado.  Together, they started their married life working a ranch in Greenland, Colorado, where their son, John Wayne was born.

The family later moved to Colorado Springs for Buck’s job and soon after that, moved to Kansas City, Kansas, where Buck could further his job training.  In 1957, they moved to Cañon City, where their daughter, Lyla Kay was born. While living in a small trailer with two children, an opportunity for a house became available and the family moved there, where they spent the rest of their lives.

Dorothy was always working alongside her husband, no matter what the job seemed to entail, whether it was reading water meters, working at the rental store, or sitting on a sawmill cutting wood.  She was a group leader in Campfire Girls for seven years, where she met and worked with many girls over the years. Dorothy was always trying to find a project for the girls to do each week and once a year, took them all on a three-day camping trip.  She enjoyed collecting and using cookbooks and postage stamps, which she began collecting as a teenager.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Buck; two brothers and their wives, Francis (Pauline) Geiger and Richard (Iola) Geiger.

A private, graveside service will be held this coming spring at Spring Valley Cemetery.  She truly will be missed.

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