Diane Johanna Gray

Diane was born in Salem, Oregon, to her parents Maxine Albus Browning and Lester Browning. They lived in Stayton until her 8th grade. Diane enjoyed reading books in the library, going to the movies with her young friends there, and playing alongside the North Santiam River and the beautiful outdoors Oregon offers. Her family moved to Aurora, Colorado, in 1956, where Diane began attending Cathedral High School, and graduated in 1961.

She worked as a long-distance operator on the switchboard at Mountain Bell telephone company. Diane soon met Ed Blackford and they married in 1965. During their marriage she took care of her mother Maxine, as she fought cancer, dying in 1973. After her marriage ended, Diane began working for Colorado PERA in 1975. Her friendly nature and high energy helped her serve members, retirees, and employers very effectively. The people she dealt with in customer service, members and co-workers alike, enjoyed her positive approach to her work and life.

In 1983 Diane married Rob Gray, who also worked at PERA. They enjoyed 40 wonderful years of marriage. She loved to read, mostly mysteries, but many other books as well, which Rob often read but could hardly keep up.

She loved talking and meeting with her friends, before and after retirement. Diane always took a deep interest in them and their families, and was always there to advise, encourage or console. She had a heart of gold and treated all with kindness and caring.

Diane was interested in family history; both sides of her family were early Oregonian settlers. By 1880 her maternal great-grandfather, Augustine Albus, was homesteading in the Aumsville area of the Santiam Valley; the farm property was located on Albus Road. On her paternal side, Arnold Browning (born 1886 in Scio) married Nina Lynch (born 1893 in Hopewell). Arnold and his brothers developed the Salem area that includes Browning Avenue.

Diane loved the Pacific Ocean and always looked forward to vacations in the Northwest. She will be buried at Belcrest Cemetery in Salem, at a private service. Survivors include her husband Rob of Aurora, Colorado, sisters Cheryl Bove of Castle Pines, Colorado, and Kathy Hagen of Stayton, Oregon, and many beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins.