Dr. Richard K. Gray
Dr. Richard King Gray left this world for Valhalla on December 11, 2023 where he will undoubtedly enjoy dining with the Gods in The Great Hall of Odin. In fact, Dick’s beloved Cal29 sailboat that he kept at the Santa Barbara Harbor was even named Valhalla after the promised paradise of fallen Viking warriors in Norse mythology.
A lifelong lover of all historical intrigues, Dick was particularly fascinated with the Ancient Greeks and Romans and read voraciously about them, amassing an impressive library of books about their cultures and inventions.
An avid sailor, surfer and scuba diver, his children ate Dick’s personally caught and home cooked abalone and lobster more frequently than they did McDonalds. Being young, they did not fully appreciate the privilege, though the 3rd Wednesday in October was always a day of celebration. His son and son-in-law later came to share his passion and dove along with him as did his longtime friends and diving buddy Fred. His beat up surf van always stood out among the nicer cars at the Doctor’s parking lot at Cottage but he would always be ready when the surf was up.
Dick loved to travel and explore the world. His passports show entry stamps for 20 different countries. When he was younger, he and his buddies would annually take the train from SB to Vancouver, Canada with their bicycles in tow and then ride back home over the course of a week or two. He also bicycled across France and Germany.
He was an early adopter of technology, purchasing the 2nd Mac computer ever released, which he pretended he had purchased for his kids. He also invented his own underwater camera housing before waterproof cameras were available, using a cumbersome metal bar to hold his camera, light meter and strobes, each of which were individually encased in plexiglass boxes which he cut from sheet and assembled with silicone. It weighed at least 20 pounds but allowed him to capture the beauty of the underwater world on film. Though an amateur photographer, he often did slide presentations for large audiences, carefully timing the music on a cassette player and creating fades between 2 different slide projectors, long before iMovie made that easy.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1934 to Elsie Mae Murr of Altoona and George King Gray of Edinburgh, Scotland, he attended Haverford High School, where he was President of the Senior class and played football all 3 years. He then started at Drexel University before he was drafted into the army where he became a “Go-Devil” of the 60th infantry Regiment. Dick later graduated from Penn State University and obtained his Doctor of Medicine at Temple University Medical Center in 1964. He did his Anesthesia specialty training at UCLA Medical Center then his internship and residency at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, where he continued on staff for the rest of his career. He was a partner at the Anesthesia Medical Group of Santa Barbara until his retirement with some interesting teaching segues to foreign places like the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden and Motoatua Hospital in Apia, Western Samoa.
Dick is survived by his 2nd wife, Cynthia Schroeder, his ex-wife Saundra Gray, his children Julia Gray Hines (Carter), Richard Douglass Gray and Brad Nelson (Chris) and his stepchildren John Schroeder (Jinger), Katrina Bierk (Bob) and by 7 grandchildren, his sister Jeanne, brothers Bob and Don and is predeceased by both of his parents and his brother Doherty.
Dick will be remembered well as an intelligent and interesting conversationalist who always laughed easily, loved James Bond and Indiana Jones movies and wanted to have fun in life. Per his specific wishes, his ashes will be sprinkled at sea on Friday and his friends will toast him with “greenies” (Heineken beer) while listening to a live violinist. He was a good friend to many and will be missed.