Obituaries

Marvin L. Gray, Jr., known from childhood as “Monty,” died of cancer on March 26, 2023 at home in Tacoma, Washington. He was 77 years old.

Born on May 9, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his father was stationed with the Army Air Corps, Monty grew up in the small town of Wakefield in southeastern Virginia. At age 14 he left for the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, followed by Princeton University, where he majored in mathematics, and Harvard Law School, where he was graduated magna cum laude and served as an editor on the Harvard Law Review.

After judicial clerkships on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to Judge Henry Friendly, and the United States Supreme Court to Justice John Marshall Harlan II, and after having fulfilled his military service obligation in the United States Air Force, Monty spent three years as a criminal prosecutor with the office of the United States Attorney in Seattle, where he made lifelong friends.

In 1976 Monty joined the Seattle law firm now known as Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. He practiced there for over forty years and was responsible for complex business litigation, mediations, and arbitrations. He served as the firm’s managing partner for three years. On his retirement in 2020, he relocated to Tacoma to be closer to his children and grandchildren.

Monty was devoted to the ideals of the legal profession. He was particularly active on issues of access to justice for those of limited means. He was elected a member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Monty enjoyed teaching. He served as an instructor in trial advocacy at the University of Washington Law School and as an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law. He also often lectured on legal matters, including lectures to law students in Russia and Estonia under the auspices of the Center for International Legal Studies.

Although Monty did not wear his faith on his sleeve, religion was an important part of his life, informing his understanding of the world and helping him face the prospect of death with equanimity. He was the Church Attorney for the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, and he also served on the vestries of his home parishes in Seattle at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension and at St. Luke’s Memorial Episcopal Church in Tacoma.

Monty was a voracious reader and frequent traveler. He also loved puzzles and games, especially the camaraderie and challenge of duplicate bridge. He achieved the rank of life master and served on the boards of directors of the Seattle and Tacoma units of the American Contract Bridge League.

Monty was predeceased by his parents Marvin Lee Gray, Sr. and Frances S. Gray and by his sisters Barbara Gray Macondray and Kathryn Gray Bradshaw. He is survived by his wife of fifty years Jill M. Gray, by his daughters Elizabeth Gray (Erik White) of Gig Harbor and Carolyn Linden (Andrew) of Tacoma, by his four grandchildren Westley and Natalie Linden and Sarah and Jason White, of whom he was immensely proud, and by a large extended family, to whom he was devoted.

A memorial service will be held at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 2330 West Viewmont Way W, Seattle, Washington on Saturday, May 13, 2023 at 2 PM. Any remembrances are suggested to the Northwest Justice Project, to the John M. Davis Diversity Scholarship fund at the University of Washington Law School, or to any other appropriate charity.