Celestine F Gray

She was born May 15, 1949, in Washington, DC to the late Robert King and Roberta Walker King. She was formerly married to Fredrick Gray and from this union had one son, Germain D’Angelo Gray on September 26, 1972.

She was educated in Washington, DC public schools and graduated from Burdick Vocational high school in 1967. She went on to earn an AA degree from Prince Georges community college in 1985 and a B.S. degree from the University of Maryland in 1987 where she was on the dean’s list at both institutions. She was extremely proud that her goal of obtaining her degrees came to fruition in the later stage of her life.

Faye worked as a Clerk Stenographer at Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1967. She then went on to work as a Secretary Stenographer at Housing of Urban Development (HUD) in 1969. She took a break from the corporate world to pursue a career in real estate, becoming an agent at Weichert Realtors in early 1990’s. She went back to the government in the late 90’s to work for Department of Homeland Security in the US Citizenship and Immigration services division until her retirement in 2013.

Faye (as everyone dearly called her), was very outgoing and made friends wherever she went. She was very meticulous in any and everything she did. Outside of work, she loved to exercise. Running was her favorite and she never missed her 4am appt with her treadmill. During the work week she always took advantage of nice weather to walk to the subway station instead of driving. Post-retirement all she talked about was her desire to become a personal trainer and lived by the motto “If you don’t show up 15 minutes early, you are late!”

Faye never missed her self-care days making sure her nails, feet, and hair were done weekly. Socially, she loved hand dancing and would jump at the opportunity to show off her skills at a good ole kitchen party or a backyard cookout.

Faye was preceded in death by her toddler sister, Laverne King, and her brother, Dennis King. She leaves to cherish her memory her only child, Germain D’Angelo Gray (Sheree) of Springdale, Md; Sister Loretta King, Takoma Park, Md; 3 grandchildren: Germain Joshua Gray, Shelby Brewington, and Jamia Celeste Gray; 1 Great Grandchild, Elijah Germain Gray, and Aunts Bertha Paige, Washington, DC and Marie Brown, Silver Spring, MD; and a host of family and friends.