WILMINGTON — Kenneth “Ken” Darrell Gray, 58, of Surf City, NC passed away on February 24, 2023.
Ken was born on December 15, 1964 in Little River, North Carolina. He was the youngest of the 7 children raised by Julia Banther and Velvia Gray Sr. (deceased parents).
He loved music, gardening, and automobiles beginning at a very early age. Ken graduated from Brevard High School in 1983 and later received his BFS from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in Business Management and Computer Science. Ken met his life partner, Eric while attending UNCA. They started their life together, sharing their love of dogs, spending time with their friends, and traveling.
Ken’s career started in Asheville at Norwest Financial. They then moved to Raleigh in 1996, where he worked as a branch manager for the Bank of America. Later, with his love of homes, he started to use his financial knowledge to help people with their mortgage planning. After attending real estate class, he received his license to begin selling homes in 2005 which then resulted in starting his own real estate company, Ken Gray Properties. He thoroughly enjoyed making his clients happy as they moved through the various phases of home ownership. He was very proud of his 17+ years of building his business.
After a small commitment ceremony in June of 1997, he and Eric decided to make it official with a wedding in Surf City in 2016 surrounded with over a hundred close family and friends. Their hard work and determination to remodel a 1930’s home in Raleigh, a 1950’s home in Surf City and various other home improvements, kept the couple busy. Landscaping and enjoying walks with their many sight hounds: Chance, Ella, Ava, Bailey, Cooper and Oliver. They also enjoyed anything with live music and spending time with friends/close family while talking at times into the wee hours of the night. His laughter was contagious and enjoyed by many while his personality was bright and full of love.
Ken leaves behind his spouse, Eric and 2 dogs, Cooper and Oliver. Ken was predeceased by his brother Roger and is survived by his sister Denise in Durham, Charles, Vel and Betty in Pisgah Forest and JoAnn in Tampa, multiple nieces and nephews and their children. And many who loved him dearly.
A celebration of his life will be scheduled in the late spring in Raleigh with all those who cherished Ken.
