Hattie Lee Gray

She was the first child of Henry Fears and Annie Lee Hargrove Fears. Three siblings (Sammie Lee, Henry, and Henrietta) followed her birth, and soon the family moved from the small town of Willis, Texas to Houston, Texas.

Later in Hattie's young adult life, four more siblings (Wanda Jean, Brenda Joyce, Effie, and Paul) were born through her fathers. Even though these were her siblings, she lovingly nurtured them right alongside her children.

Hattie was educated in the Houston Independent School District and attended Phyllis Wheatley High School. Her very first job was at the then-popular Woolworth Department Store on Main Street in Houston, Texas.

Then, she met and dated a young man from East Texas named Adolphus Gray.

He proposed to her when he signed up to join the United States Army. His older brother escorted her to New Mexico, where he was statiThey were married on October, 1952 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and she became Hattie Lee Fears Gray.

To their union, five children were born. They are named Darryl Cantrell Gray, Harold Dwayne Gray, Elaine Rouchelle Gray, Demetrice Laniel Gray, and Dedric Jenard Gray.

Hattie Lee, as her family called her, was an excellent homemaker. She loved every aspect of that life, cooking full-course meals for her family daily, including desserts from scratch. She was family-famous for her Lemon Meringue Pie and German Chocolate cake. Neighbors enjoyed her greens and hot-water cornbread. She loved collecting and trying out new recipes even into her 80s. There was always a feast- at her house on the holidays.

She was an elegant fashionista, from her lingerie to her handbags. She was an excellent seamstress like her mother. She loved guiding her daughters in choosing quality, stylish clothing.

Hattie Lee treasured her family and enjoyed sharing traditional values with her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. She loved tagging along on the family vacations with them.

Hattie accepted Christ Jesus as her Lord and Savior at an early age.

Over the course of her life, she attended various churches in the Greater Houston area and in recent months, fellowshipped with a group of ladies in her home for Bible Study.

Hattie Lee Fears Gray was a compassionate, loving, feisty, and expressive woman. If you really knew her as a family member or friend, then you must have a story to tell about her.

On August 3, 2023, at the age of 89, Hattie Lee succumbed to complications from the chronic illness of COPD. She was blessed to pass peacefully while sleeping.

Hattie was preceded in death by her husband, Adolphus Gray; her sons, Darryl Cantrell Gray and Dedric Jenard Gray; her mother, Annie Lee Hargrove Fears; her father, Henry Fears; her siblings, Henry Fears Jr., Brenda Joyce Smith, Sammie Lee Johnson, and Henrietta Fears Bedford.

Hattie is survived by a brother, Paul Pearson; two sisters, Wanda Jeana Moore and Effie Pearson Smith; a son, Harold Dwayne Gray; two daughter, Elaine Rouchelle Gray and Demetrice Laniel Gray; three grandsons, Darrell Butler, Omar Jemil Gray, and Dedric Jenard Gray, Jr., four great-grandsons, Omar Rayshown Gray, Kenneth Ray Butler, Jemil Oscar Gray, and Kaiden Amir Smith; one great-granddaughter, Jhourni Symone Lofton, one great-great-grandson, Khalil Malik Huff-Gray, and a host of nephews, nieces, other relatives, and friends.