Harriet P. Gray

September 1, 1921 — October 26, 2017

Harriet P. Gray Profile Photo
Harriet Pamila Adams Gray, daughter of Floyd and Gladys (Stegner) Smith, was born on September 1, 1921 on a farm outside Manilla, Iowa in Carroll County. While young, Harriet’s family moved to a farm in rural Shelby County where she attended country school as well as the Shelby Consolidated Schools. The family then moved back to rural Manilla, Iowa area where she graduated from Manilla High School with the class of 1939.
On November 11, 1939, Harriet was united in marriage to Victor Adams in Manning, Iowa. After their marriage, they made their home on a farm near Irwin, Iowa and were the parents of four children: Richard, Dean, Don and Joyce. They later moved to various farms in Crawford County where she did motel cleaning, restaurant work and cooked in Denison from 1960 to 1965. They then bought the Adam’s Café in Kiron, Iowa and ran that from 1965 to 1973.
On January 28, 1968, Harriet was united in marriage to Zane Gray in Denison, Iowa. After their marriage, they made their home in Kiron, Iowa. She then spent time working at World Wide Packing in Denison from February of 1974 to September of 1975 and later went to work at the Super Value in Denison where she worked from October of 1975 until her retirement in September of 1984.
Harriet loved to sew and spent many years sewing out of her home in her spare time. In December of 1994, she moved into Denison where she worked part-time at WESCO from July of 1996 to September of 1998. She was baptized on July 23, 1971 at the Wesleyan Camp in Charles City, Iowa and became a very active member of the Wesleyan Church in Denison. She served as a Sunday School teacher as well as a secretary and treasurer and held all offices with the Wesleyan Women church group.
Harriet also donated a lot of her time to the Crawford County Association for Retarded Children which she started in 1953 and served on their board until 1970. When she wasn’t sewing, Harriet enjoyed traveling and working on crafts.
Harriet then became a resident of Accura Healthcare in Sioux City and this is where she died on October 26, 2017 having attained the age of ninety-six years, one month and twenty-five days. In addition to her parents, Harriet was preceded in death by her husbands; sons Darrell Adams and Richard Adams; brother, Marlen Smith and her sister Charlotte Hecht.
She is survived by her children: Dean Adams of Sioux City, Iowa; Don Adams and his wife Sandy of Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Joyce and her husband John Chase of Sioux City, Iowa; daughter-in-law, Glenda Adams of Naples, Florida; her grandchildren: Michelle and her husband Mark Theme; Danelle and her husband Mike Frank and Alisha and her husband Telly Alvarez, all of Naples, Florida; Jeremy Adams and his wife Jeanne of Independence, Iowa; Brandon Adams and his wife Natalie of Enid, Oklahoma; Kelsie and her husband Dustin Willis of Yukon, Oklahoma; Cindy and her husband Jason Baker of Wasilla, Alaska; Beth and her husband Keith Claypool of Jackson, Nebraska and Chris Chase of Sioux City, Iowa; 21 great grandchildren; brother, Harold Smith and his wife Esa of Florida; sister, Jeannette Sipala of Long Island, New York; nieces and nephews; other relatives and many friends.

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