'Sister Gray', former Muschett vice-principal, laid to rest

There was barely any room at the Reid's Friendship Seventh-day Adventist Church in Trelawny for mourners bidding farewell to Millicent Gray, former vice-principal of Muschett High School in the parish, on Sunday.

Relatives and well-wishers, including faculty members and past students of the school, crowded into the small church and underneath a tent pitched outside to pay their last respect to the 70-year-old Gray, who was remembered as a role model by Jonathan Bartley, councillor for the Wakefield division.

"Although she did not teach me at Muschett, she was one of my better teachers," Bartley said of Gray. "She was a community mother, one who took care of all children. She was a mentor, and she shared her skill with the people of Trelawny."

Born on November 23, 1947, to parents Cyril and Doris Vassell in Johnson district, St James, Gray affectionately known as 'Aunty Milly' and 'Sister Gray' spent most of her adult life as an educator, particularly at Muschett ,where she worked for 33 years as senior vice-principal and acting principal.

She was also an active member of the Reid's Friendship Seventh-day Adventist Church, where she wore several hats, including as its first female elder and its Women's Ministry adviser, all before succumbing to illness on May 12.

While presenting the eulogy, retired teacher and close friend Esmilda McKenzie recounted how Gray believed in being thorough in all things.

"Mrs Gray believed in the adage that things worth doing must be worth doing well. Her favourite quote was 'Whatever you are doing, it must have taste'," said McKenzie. "She was one of the greatest designers of our education system, a trailblazer who upheld high moral values."

Gray was later buried in the family plot in the Friendship community.