Gilbert “Lynn” Gray of Montague, TX went to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Friday, May 9th, 2025, in Bowie, Texas at the age of 82.
Family will receive friends on Sunday, May 11th, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the White Family Funeral Home in Bowie.
Funeral services will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, May 12th, at Bible Baptist Church in Bowie with Pastor Steve Summers officiating. Prior to the service, lunch will be provided for family and friends in the fellowship hall.
Burial will follow the service at Montague Cemetery in Montague, Texas.
Lynn was born in Bridgeport, TX on December 5, 1942, and was the only child of Lovette Davis Brooks Gray and Thomas Avery Brooks and William Webster Gray. Lynn lived his early life in Chico, Texas, then moved to Greenville, Texas with his mother after the loss of his father Tom Brooks, at the age of four. While in Greenville, Lovette remarried William Gray who adopted and raised Lynn. Shortly after, the family resided in Commerce, Texas and he graduated from Commerce High School in 1961, where he met the love of his life, Claudette Gann. Lynn and Claudette married June 2, 1961.
Lynn and Claudette moved to Montague in 1971 and still reside there this day. He was a jack of all trades and was an extremely hard worker. He held employment as a brakeman and conductor for the Saint Louis Southwestern Railway of Commerce, TX for many years. He held the position of Montague County Clerk for six years during the 1970s and was the Business Development Officer for 1st National Bank of Bowie, Texas in the 1980s until the early 2000s. Lynn was Bowie’s Man of the Year in 1997. He was part of many organizations including President of the Bowie Chamber of Commerce, President of the Jim Bowie Day’s Association, a member of the Bowie Lion’s Club, and member of masonic Lodges, Montague #415 and Bowie #578. He was a deacon and member of Montague First Baptist Church for over fifty years, and a recent member of Bible Baptist Church of Bowie.
Lynn had a servant’s heart and was very civic minded. He was a cowboy who was very passionate about his ranch and animals and had an incredible intuitive relationship with animals. He was a mechanical wizard and craftsman with a deep love for working in his shop. He was greatly blessed with creativity and could make anything he put his mind to, including extravagant floats for many of Bowie’s parades. He was an airplane enthusiast and was Montague County’s favorite Santa Clause! Lastly, and most importantly, he was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and boasted in the blood that was shed for his sins. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather with the name “Papaw.” Lynn had thirteen grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren, plus one on the way.
Lynn is survived by his wife Claudette, and his four children: Jerry Gray and his wife Shannon of Montague, Tom Gray and his wife Amy of Dallas, Penny Romine of Fort Worth, and Patricia Vicari and husband Michael of Montague.
Memorials will be made to the Bowie Animal shelter or any other local animal shelter.
Arrangements entrusted to the White Family Funeral Home of Bowie, TX.