Donald Vermilya Gray
October 19, 1931 - February 25, 2021 Woodland, CA
Donald Vermilya Gray, 89, passed away on Thursday, February 25 after a long battle with mesothelioma. He was born in Woodland, CA on October 19, 1931 to Earl and Marjorie Gray.
He graduated from Woodland High School and Santa Clara University. He proudly served our country for two years in the US Coast Guard during the Korean War. Don worked in various hospitals in the area including UC Davis Medical Center and Mercy Medical Clinics as a hospital administrator. After retirement, he volunteered on the Yolo Hospice Board of Directors for over 10 years.
Don was known for his avid love of reading and learning. He always had a smile for everyone he had contact with and was always interested in finding out about the people he encountered. He was fluent in Spanish and loved speaking it whenever he found someone who would converse with him. If you were part of Don’s life even in the smallest way, he knew about you and your background. He was always interested in others and was sincere about it.
He loved to swim and hike. He loved taking his grandchildren to his and Joyce’s cabin in the woods and taking them down to the swimming hole and on hikes and showing them the wonders of the great outdoors. He loved to travel and he and Joyce explored many areas of the US in their RV and they traveled to many different countries. Again, his thirst for knowledge, history and learning of other cultures inspired their travels.
Don is survived by his wife, Joyce Ann Gray; his children, Pamela Strang, Karen Gray Price, Diane Aguirre, Tom (Theresa) Gray and Steve Gray; his stepchildren, Julie (Steve), David (Pamela), and Doug Warren. He leaves behind 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren and was lovingly known as Papa Don.
“You must understand the whole of life, not just one part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, why you must sing, dance and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.” -Krishnamurti
A Celebration of Life will be held in late Summer/early Fall when we can hopefully safely gather to celebrate his life.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations to Yolo Hospice.
SACRAMENTO » California lawmakers are pushing several new efforts this year to largely seal or expunge criminal records for people who have completed their sentences, expanding on existing laws that proponents said aid people who are trying to re-enter society.
Nearly 8 million of California’s 40 million residents have an arrest or conviction on their record, said state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, a Democrat from Los Angeles who proposed one of the measures on Wednesday.
“These men and women have completed the sentence they were given,” and many pursued rehabilitation programs during their incarceration, she said. “After their release, instead of being able to put their new skills to use, they are hit with hundreds if not thousands of restrictions and limitations that keep them from building a new life.”
Her bill would require the state Department of Justice to automatically seal the records of people who go two years without another run-in with law enforcement after completing their sentences and any parole or probation obligations.
Proponents said law enforcement agencies and prosecutors would continue to have access to those individuals’ criminal records.
People convicted of sex crimes would be excluded, and potentially those convicted of other serious offenses including murder, backers said. The state law would also not affect people convicted of federal crimes. But arrest records would also be sealed if they do not lead to convictions.
“There’s a lot to like in the bill. Prosecutors certainly recognize the impediments to employment and housing that come with criminal disclosures in their background,” said Larry Morse, legislative director for the California District Attorneys Association, which represents most of the state’s prosecutors.