Reverend Duke Towne Gray, 87 of Lowell, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, April 21 at Westford House Nursing Home.
He was the husband of beloved “Bebe”, Gloria Evadnee (Carter) Gray who passed away February 9th. They celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary the day before she died. They were married in Toronto, Ontario where he was the Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto.
Reverend Duke was born on December 12, 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a son of the late John and Bertha Violet (Towne) Gray. His undergraduate studies were at the Drexel Institute of Technology. After a brief career in engineering he followed his grandfather Robert Towne into the ministry and enrolled in seminary at Meadville Lombard Theological School, an affiliate of the University of Chicago.
In 1965 Reverend Duke began his career at the 1st Unitarian Church in Brooklyn Heights, New York. He then led congregations in Jamestown, New York, Toronto, Ontario, Chicago, Illinois, Norway and South Paris, Maine and Malden and Templeton, Massachusetts.
Following retirement from the UUA, Duke undertook several interim ministries in the United Church of Christ, the most recent being Community Church of Hudson, New Hampshire.
Duke was a very spiritual and prayerful person. He regularly participated in Bible study, participated in the Life in the Spirit Seminar, and attended Charismatic Renewal Leaders Summer Conferences at the University of Steubenville in Ohio. Duke went on mission trips to the Czech Republic and Slovakia with the Renewal Ministries Team and participated in an Exorcism with their Deliverance Ministry Team.
He is survived by his children, Theodore “Ted” Gray and his wife Julia of Des Plaines, Illinois, and Arthur Gray of Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, his cherished grandchildren Lillian, Emalyn, Aaric, Eleana and Thomas Gray. His sisters in law Ann - Jane Wong of Toronto and Bridget Hughes of the United Kingdom, brother in law Ronald Carter of Toronto, Nephews Richard (Jackie) and Mark (Judy) Rodgers and great nieces and nephew Julie, Becky, Matthew and Heather all mourn his passing.
Duke was predeceased by his sister Hope (Gray) Rodgers, brother in law Otis Rodgers and nephew Steve Rodgers.
On Friday, May 8, 2026 all are welcome to attend his visitation from 10:00 - 10:45 am with a funeral service to follow at Christ Church United, 10 Arlington Street, Dracut. A procession for burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery in Chelmsford.