Alice May Heaton Gray
Alice May Heaton Gray
Alice May Heaton Gray , 88,
of Boise, Idaho, died Wednesday, March 5, 2014 in Boise
A memorial service will be
held at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, March 13, at University Christian Church, with
Rev. Eugene Curtis Hill officiating.
inurnment will be in
Clearwater, MN at a later date.
Alice was born on April 24,
1925 in Clearwater, MN, to Mildred Watts and James P. Heaton.
She grew up in Minnesota and
graduated from Technical High School, St. Cloud, MN.
She married George W Gray, on July 3, 1952 at the First Christian Church, Boise, with
Rev. Hartzell Cobbs, officiating. They
were divorced in 1969.
Alice resided mostly in
Boise. She lived a short time in Joseph,
Oregon after marriage and then returned to Boise. She originally moved to Boise when she was 21
with family friends whom she later cared for as her own family since they had
no children.
She fell in love with Boise
and was always an ambassador for the area, often convincing people she met that
this was a great place to live. She was
proud that the first job she had in Boise was as hostess at CC Andersons (later
the downtown Bon Marche) where she met many people who became life-time friends
and also led to a job at Idaho Power where she worked till she had her first
child. After being a stay-at-home mom
for 10 years and managing church and home books, she returned to the workforce
after divorcing to discover she needed to build a new credit and work history. Much harder than it is today. Thanks to a wonderful opportunity to work as
a clerk for the Ada County Treasurer, she got to have a dream job. No property problem was too small for her to
make sure it was corrected and she was often sought out because she remembered
most names in the community and all the subdivisions. She forged a great relationship with her boss
and they both traveled considerably together after they retired. She also traveled with family from Minnesota
since one of her brothers drove a Farmer’s Union Tour Bus and she was able to
visit just almost all 50 states.
She always wanted to make a
difference. She was known from
adolescence to take a stand for children or adults who were bullied. She believed people deserved to be liked for
who they were. Her home was always open
to someone who needed a place till they could get back on their feet. However, she did like to influence what they
ate. Her favorite saying before placing
a dish on the table that she knew you didn’t care for was “Try it, you will
like the way I fix it. She was a great
cook and her apple pies and potato salad were always requested.
When she was working at home,
her hobbies included a beautiful vegetable and flower garden. The basement was always a craft zone for the
yearly church bazaar project where everyone gathered to work. Multitudes of hand-poured grapes wired to
driftwood still reappear to this day.
Nothing was safe from being turned into a possible fund raiser. Later years she loved to knit, crochet, latch
hook and work on puzzles. She loved a
rousing game of pinochle or 500.
Everything was an excuse to get a bunch of women together for fellowship
and giggles. Her birthday bunch were
regulars at the Mode. Dancing from early years at the MirMar to the
Treasure Valley Singles was a favorite also.
The hardest thing was when she had to give up her car and independence
because of seizures and it kept her from calling on shut-ins and helping
others. Luckily she had many friends who
included her in visits and she was able to continue into her 80’s. She loved the city bus and made use of it
from the time she moved to Boise till she was no longer able to navigate on her
own.
She was a dedicated member of
the University Christian Church and held about every position available,
Christian Women’s Fellowship, the early YWCA, Community Concerts, and the Happy
Hoofers. She volunteered at the Idaho
Historical Museum for years after retirement.
Survivors include a daughter,
Bernie Mueller (Tim) Caldwell; a son, James W. Gray (Laurie) Utah
; sisters, Marion
Bergs and Joyce Pierson (Roger); brothers,
Curtis Heaton (friend Irene) Lyle Heaton (friend Mary,) all of Minnesota; Grand
daughter, Anne Mueller (friend Jon Ross and daughter, Avaya Ross); and numerous
nieces and nephews.
Special thanks to so many
people who looked out for her over the years.
She loved living at the Heatherwood Retirement apartments and then the
Assisted Living facilities at Amber Lane along with services from Align
Hospice. She felt they were her extended
family and cared deeply for each one.
Alice was know to have a smile for every one who visited and rarely
complained even though we knew she had aches and pains.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Alice May Heaton Gray, please visit our flower store.
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