Hodijah Ocie "H.O." Gray

Reverend Hodijah Ocie ("H.O.") Gray, 86, of Pine Bluff, was the son of late Herschel Harvey and Eula Gill Gray, May 15, 1930, in Bigelow, Arkansas. He professed an early belief at Bethel A.M. E. Church in Bigelow, Arkansas. Rev. Gray graduated from Dunbar High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. A Korean War veteran, Gray graduated from Philander Smith College where he pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. After graduate studies at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, he began working at the Pine Bluff Arsenal as a microbiologist. Rev. Gray served as the Branch President of the NAACP for many years and as a Justice of the Peace in Jefferson County. Rev. Gray answered God's final call on September 18, 2016. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters, Equilla Gray Walls, and Blanche Gray Mayes. Cherishing Rev. Gray's memory are his wife Lula Brown Gray, his daughters, Patricia Gray and Cynthia Gray Hines (John). Other survivors include his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and his sisters, sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law as well as a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and church members. Visitation: Family Hour will be held at Brown Funeral Home, Friday, September 23, 2016, 7-8:30 p.m. Funeral services will be held Saturday, September 24, 2016, 10 a.m. at St. John A.M.E. Church, 1117 Pullen Ave., Pine Bluff, Arkansas 71601. Interment will be in Graceland Cemetery by Brown Funeral Home of Pine Bluff. His body will lie in-state Saturday, 9:15 a.m., until service. Online: www.brownfuneralhomeandmortuary.com.