PORT ANGELES — Harvey McDonald Gray III — known to those close to him as Don — was a friend to many and a savvy businessman, longtime friends said.
Gray died Feb. 5. He was 83. A memorial service in his honor is planned at 1 p.m. Friday at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 301 E. Lopez Ave., Port Angeles.
Gray was a longtime businessman who took over the family business, Angeles Furniture, after his father died and ran it until 1986, when he retired.
His wife of 64 years, Betty, survives him.
Edna Petersen, owner of Necessities and Temptations gift shop in Port Angeles, said she was friends with the Grays for many years, traveling and playing cards and golf with them.
“He always made you feel special,” Petersen said.
“He always made you feel like his very best friend, even though you knew that there were all sorts of other ones out there, too.”
Gifted salesman
Petersen said the businessman who owned Angeles Furniture was a gifted salesman.
“One of the first things I ever bought from him was the ugliest red-and-black lamp you could ever imagine,” Petersen said.
“But when I was talking to him, it was just like it was the best thing in the world.”
Despite his ease at selling, he wasn’t one to go for the hard sell, she said.
“He always did it with a smile and a charming grace,” Petersen said.
“There was never any pressure, but you wanted to get it because you just didn’t want to disappoint him.”
Gray helped his mother, Bernice Gray, run Angeles Furniture in its downtown location after his father, Harvey MacDonald Gray II, died at the age of 52.
He and his partner, Pierre Lieurance, built the store’s present location at 1114 E. First St.
Even after retiring, Gray was a hard worker, Petersen said.
“Several years ago, he had spent a lot time working as a volunteer at the [Port Angeles] Food Bank,” Petersen said.
One of his favorite past-times was playing golf, and he was a member of the Peninsula Golf Course.
He also was a member of Rotary International and Northwest Furniture Dealers and served as an usher at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
Bill Clevenger, who bought out the furniture store from Gray in 1986, said he was a smiling and easygoing man.
“He always had a smile on his face and went along with everything we did,” he said.
“He was extremely easy to work with and very, very helpful all around.”
When Clevenger first met Gray, he remembered him as always having a cigar in his mouth.
“That was like his signature look,” he said.
Clevenger was working in real estate in the 1980s, which was in a slump at the time, and was searching for a new career.
Gray provided that career, and Clevenger said he is still happily running the store.
“He was looking to retire, and I knew his son Jack [who was Clevenger’s eventual partner in business] from fishing,” Clevenger said.
Gary Wagner, who owns Wagner’s Grocery at Laird’s Corner, said his father ran Wagner’s Food Store, which was just down the block from the original location on First Street of Angeles Furniture.
‘Happy Days’
“‘Happy Days’ — remember that show? — that’s what it was,” Wagner said.
“I have a lot of good memories.”
Wagner said he remembers Gray as a friendly and generous man.
“He was a gregarious fellow. People were first and foremost for him,” Wagner said.
Jack Little, menswear buyer for Swain’s General Store in Port Angeles, was a longtime friend of Gray’s as well.
“We were good friends and had many great times every morning at Haguewood’s [Restaurant],” Little said.
“We got together every morning there, had coffee and told jokes.
“It was a bunch of us business guys.
“He was a real nice fellow, and I really enjoyed him.”
Gray married Betty Marie Somers in 1946. They were high school sweethearts who both attended Roosevelt High School in Port Angeles.
In addition to his wife, Gray also is survived by his sons, Harvey “Mac” McDonald Gray IV and wife Janelle and Jack Alan Gray and wife Patty; his daughter, Pamela Adele Caldwell and husband Michael; eight grandchildren, Mitchell Gray, Sean Gray, Jon Gray, Amber Gray, Kyle Gray, Marcus Gray, Evan-James Caldwell and Dane Caldwell; and five great grandchildren, Brennan, Gavin, Jaxson, Jamison and Alex.
Donations in Gray’s name may be made to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Building Fund or Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.