Ted Gray, 96, Ohio's longest state senator who died Monday, will lie in honor at Statehouse
Theodore Milton "Ted" Gray, 96, Ohio's youngest-elected and longest-serving state senator who died Monday, will lie in honor next Wednesday, March 13, at the Statehouse in downotwn Columbus
Visitation for Gray's casket will be from from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Statehouse, 1 Capitol Square.
There will also be a visitation on Thursday, March 14, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., at Schoedinger Northwest in Upper Arlington, 1740 Zollinger Road, followed by a service beginning at 11 a.m. A reception will follow.
Despite his age, Gray was living independently until he suffered a fall in February while trying to get onto an elevator at his Upper Arlington home and was transported to OhioHealth RIverside Methodist Hospital. He was discharged Monday afternoon to National Church Residences Hospice, where he died at 6:10 p.m. in his room, according to the Franklin County Coroner's Office.
Gray's daughter Scarlett Ann Gray-Saling said her father died of a combination of pneumonia and old age.
In a statement, Gov. Mike DeWine expressed his condolences to Gray's family and described the former senator as a "mountain of knowledge, information, and just plain common sense."
"It was my lucky break to sit right next to Senator Gray when I served in the Ohio Senate," said DeWine. "I learned so much from talking with him. He knew the history of the State Senate. And, he knew which policies had been tried before — what worked and what didn’t work."
Born in Springfield, Ohio, on Sept. 3, 1927, Gray was a resdent of Piqua, Ohio, when he was first elected to the state Senate in November 1950 while a student at Ohio State University. He took office at age 23 in January 1951 as the youngest elected state senator in Ohio history.
In 1962, after gaining reelection to a fourth term, his colleagues elected him to be the Senate majority leader. When he won his election to his fifth term in 1966, Gray was named the Senate's president pro-tempore, the second highest position in the Senate, a position he held for 10 years.
After Piqua was removed from his Senate district, Gray moved to Upper Arlington in order to remain in the district. He went on to win reelection in 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986 and one last time in 1990. After that win, he was appointed chairman of the state Senate Finance Committee.
In February 1994, before the spring primary, Gray resigned, citing laryngitis. His voice had deteriorated to the point where he had to communicate with Senate leadership by showing a thumbs up or a thumbs down.
In all, Gray served 10 consecutive terms in the Senate, marking 43 years as a state senator.
Gray was an avid golfer and was 82 years old when he got his first and only hole-in-one.
In addition to his daughter Scarlett, Gray is survived by four other children, Thackery, Timothy, Theodore and Laurie; 6 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, 8 great-great grandchildren, and a sister, Rebecca Mitchell.
@ShahidMeighan
smeighan@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ted Gray, former Ohio senator who served four decades, dies at 96
