Evelyn Helms Johnson Gray

Evelyn Helms Johnson Gray ended her days on January 31, 2015, at the Crossings at Ironbridge. She was 95.
Through a century of tumult and change, Eve Gray lived a life of remarkable stability. A native of Chesterfield County, Eve Gray lived all but her last three years in the historic Bishop-Johnson house, where she was born on June 14, 1919.
Eve was married only once, to Frederick Thomas Gray. Though their courtship began in peacetime, the couple married on October 16, 1943, in Sacramento, California, on the day Fred became a first lieutenant and navigator in the Army Air Corps. Eve always remembered her six-day, transcontinental train trip, in wartime, as one of her most romantic adventures.
Eve and Fred enjoyed an exceptionally happy marriage, which lasted until Fred's death in May, 1992. From the end of World War II, they lived together in Eve’s family home, raising two children, Frederick T. Gray, Jr. ('Rick) and Evelyn Cary Gray (Tucky), now Mrs. Sandy T. Tucker.
Eve took great pride in her home and historic community. Throughout her life, she welcomed unexpected visitors to Bermuda Hundred, sharing the lore of its colonial and Civil War past.
She treasured her childhood, when Bermuda Hundred was a lively port town, the highest on the James River open to ocean-going vessels. She cherished few memories more deeply than those of her parents, William Tranor Johnson and Pearl Watkins Johnson, who had purchased their home and adjacent general store in 1911.
Young Eve was a tomboy, playing baseball and rambling about the countryside with neighborhood boys. She idolized her sisters, the gentle Bessie Walsh and the glamorous Lillian Therrien, but she was, above all, her father's sidekick. From him, she learned carpentry and drafting, skills which she improved throughout her life.
A woman of countless projects, Eve took great pride in the Gray’s cozy cottage in South Nags Head, which she designed in the 1970s. Well into her senior years, she actively maintained her home – bush-hogging with her antique Ford Jubilee tractor; replacing rotted window sills; even designing a “senior-friendly” addition for her house.
Always an athlete, Eve was a competitive amateur golfer. She and Fred were also noted for the grace and flair of their ballroom dancing, the perfect metaphor for their lifelong partnership.
An honor graduate of Chester High School, Eve became “Tony” to her classmates after she played Mark Antony in a class production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. She was accepted by the College of William and Mary, but – owing to the need to care for her ailing mother and maintain the family store -- she did not attend. Instead, she lived at home and took a job as deputy clerk of the Chesterfield County Court.
A founding member of the Bermuda Hundred United Methodist Church, Eve served in its Women's Society and as a soprano in the chancel choir. She took an active role in her children’s activities, most memorably as Cub Scout Assistant Den Mother; officer of the Enon Elementary School PTA; and assistant instructor in the popular summer swim program at Flippo’s Lake in Chester, one of her many activities with the local chapter of the American Red Cross.
In 1978, she became an Honorary Chair of the Virginia Chapter of the American Heart Association, travelling the Commonwealth to raise awareness and money to combat a disease which had nearly claimed her husband.
Eve enjoyed many adventures, visiting most of the fifty states as well as the Holy Land, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and much of Europe. Ever the adventurer, Eve could also rough it with the best. Some of her favorite stories involved her trip to the Soviet Union with her 10-year-old granddaughter, Cary and a rambling bus tour through the West with her 8-year-old granddaughter Meggy.
Closest to her heart, though, was the little village of Bermuda Hundred, where she maintained warm, cooperative friendships with her neighbors through hurricanes, floods, snowstorms, and extended power outages. Into her nineties, she continued taking brisk walks along the banks of the James, inevitably accompanied by one of a long series of canine “best friends”.
Eve’s breadth of knowledge, gleaned through her life-time habit of extensive reading, never ceased to surprise. A perfectionist in all tasks, Eve knew how to do "men's work" with her strong, capable hands. She managed her family’s finances with meticulous care. No one who knew her could fail to be impressed by her charm, her sense of humor, her self-confidence, or the strength of her character. She was universally described as a thorough-going Virginia lady. She was a proud and patriotic American.
Eve Gray was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters Bessie Johnson Walsh and Lillian Johnson Therrien; her nephew, “Buddy” Teeple; her beloved grand-niece, Susan Eitelman Dean; and her best friend and husband, Frederick T. Gray. She is survived by her children, Evelyn G. Tucker and Frederick T. Gray, Jr.; by her son-in-law, Sandy T. Tucker; by her grandchildren, Martha Cary Tucker, Megan MacKenzie Tucker, Bryan Hill Tucker (Rachael), and Jonathan Reed Tucker (Michelle), and by great-granddaughters, Lucy and Claire. She is also survived by her nieces, Dinah W. Eitelman, of Hampton, Virginia, and Teresa Bilderback, of Albuquerque, and numerous great-nieces and great-nephews.
The family expresses its deepest gratitude to the staff of The Crossings at Iron Bridge, to AseraCare Hospice, and to Family Care/Care South for their care and support. In Eve’s final years, the dedicated and patient attention of Linda Roach was a blessing beyond expression.
The family will receive friends from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at the Chester Chapel of J.T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home. A funeral service will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 5, 2015 at Bermuda Hundred United Methodist Church, 2025 Florence Avenue, Chester, Virginia 23836. Interment will follow in Sunset Memorial Park in Chester. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Bermuda Hundred United Methodist Church/ memo: Evelyn J. Gray Memorial Fund at the address above, or to the Richmond SPCA, 2519 Hermitage Road, Richmond, Virginia 23220. Condolences may be registered at www.jtmorriss.com .