Born 9th February 1910, Minn. MN

Died 19 November 1984, Clovis NM., buried Sayre, OK

Johnnie Gray really had a deep love for the Mormon people. Once they had saved his life, and later had saved the life of his wife.

When Johnnie was just ten years old his mother left home. Both of Johnnie’s parents, John G. and Mary Gray, were of the Delaware/Kickapoo tribe, and had resettled in Erick, Oklahoma. Mary was considerably younger than her husband and evidently there were other problems as well. Little Johnnie remembered running after her asking her not to leave. She told him to go home and take care of his siblings. The youngest child, Manuel, was only four months old. Mary said she would return for them, but they never heard from her again.

In the summer of 1929, after Johnnie graduated from high school, he took a job with a harvest crew headed for Canada. He said goodbye to the family he’d been living with since his father’s death and went to work.

When they reached Malad City, Idaho, Johnnie dropped a piece of equipment on his foot while he was working and blood poison set in. Soon he was unable to walk. He lay in his bunk in the barn for several days while the farmer’s wife brought him food. In the meantime the harvester moved on, leaving Johnnie without telling him and without paying him. When his fever rose, the farmer and his wife took him to the doctor. The doctor told Johnnie he was going to have to lose his foot and maybe his whole leg. Johnnie looked up at the farmer and pleaded, “Please don’t let them take my foot.”

The farmer and his wife were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The farmer who held an office in the priesthood called another elder and together they gave Johnnie a priesthood blessing. Johnnie always said that it was the power of the priesthood that healed his foot so it was not amputated.

The Mormon man and his wife took Johnnie home and cared for him. They bathed his leg in hot epsom salt water every two or three hours day and night. Gradually he returned to health. He stayed with the family and took care of the stock. They had a mountain cabin in the high range country where the cattle would summer-feed, and Johnnie often stayed there. Refusing to accept any pay, he became part of their family for two and a half years, learning skills like making bread and accompanying the family to church.

Though he loved and admired the Mormon people, Johnnie remained rooted in the faith of the First Christian Church. It was the people of this church in Erick, Oklahoma, who had literally raised Johnnie and his abandoned siblings.

But another Mormon family offered Johnnie work in Utah and he decided to go. He worked there for some time. On a return trip to Erick, Oklahoma, to visit his brother, Jesse, Johnnie met Golda Stages, daughter of John W and Eula Stages. They were married the 29th of January 1934 in the Sayre, Oklahoma, First Christian Church by the minister from Erick, Oklahoma. But for many years he corresponded with Postmaster Byrd of Malad City. He never forgot the kindness of the Mormon people there.

Johnnie and Golda moved around quite a bit doing various work. In 1941 when they lived in Conchas, New Mexico, they had another experience with the Mormons. After a difficult birth, Golda was in need of blood. She and Johnnie took an apartment in Tucumcari to be near the hospital. When the local radio station announced that someone needed a very rare blood type, the first people to arrive were two Mormon missionaries. One of the missionaries had the same blood type. His name was Elder Heintze. Golda needed two different transfusions and he donated both times. “They saved my life. I remember Johnnie saying, ‘See these fine Mormon missionaries? They’re good clean boys and they’ve got good clean blood. You’re gonna get better ‘cause they’ve got good clean blood!’ They wouldn’t take money but Johnnie saw that they had gotten a little blood on their white shirts so Johnnie went out and got each of the boys a new shirt. And oh, the boys were so surprised when they did that!” When Golda was recovered, the Mormon elders were invited for dinner many times.

Between the time the Grays left Tucumcari and settled in Clovis, they traveled all over Kansas, Tennessee, Alabama and Texas doing plumbing, carpentry and welding. They assisted with the building of the Borger, Texas, meetinghouse of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and often had members of the church over for meals.

In 1963, Johnnie and Golda moved to Clovis. They were riding around one evening and Johnnie saw the sign “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Johnnie said, “Why, those are Mormon People!” Golda recalls: “We stopped and went back and Johnnie said to a group of workers, ‘It looks to me like you could use a welder here.’ There were boys, girls, women and men all working together. The young men were putting the plumbing in. ‘I don’t want to be bossy boys, but you’re doing that wrong,’ Johnnie told them. He showed them how to do it so it would drain properly. One of the Mormon men told him, ‘If you see anything that needs to be done differently, tell us.’ Johnnie said they were doin’ good. He worked several Saturdays. The men asked Johnnie how much they owed him, but Johnnie wouldn’t take any money. He said, ‘Those Mormons saved my life.’”

Johnnie Gray always had a spot in his heart for the Mormon people. He contributed to the church every Christmas, a practice that his wife, Golda, has continued. Two of Golda’s sisters and a niece and a nephew have joined the Mormon church.

Johnnie Gray belonged to the Masonic order.