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-An Autobiography by Don Gray

Whenever anyone posts at our site's Bulletin Board, I usually respond thanking them for doing so, especially if they reference family ties to the town. That is what I did when Susan Detweiler posted. When I received a response from her with an offer to provide some information about her father's life in Vernon Center, I wasn't sure what to expect. Giving people on the internet your mailing address can sometimes yield weird consequences! But I took a chance that she was legitimate.....she seemed like a "sensible woman".....and asked her to please send me a copy of her father's memoirs. I sort of expected copies of pages, maybe handwritten notes and at most one of those soft cover pamphlet style booklets with a reference here and there to Vernon.

What arrived in the mail about a week later was a hardcover "limited edition", 424 page autobiography of a man who obviously had lived in and loved this community! What was even more amazing is that an entire section (pages 22-137) is entitled "My Life and Good Times in Vernon Center"! In addition to the section devoted to the town, there are numerous references throughout the book, including the final chapter, about the influence of Vernon Center and it's people on the life of one Don Gray.

Don Gray was born in Vernon Center, Minnesota on February 3, 1909 when the temperature was 15 degrees below zero. Dr. McMichael attended his birth at a cost of $10. His father, Alexander Gray was born on a farm near Garden City, where his parents, John and Elizabeth, had moved from Wilmington, Illinois. Don's mother, Myrtle Force Gray, was born in 1882 in Vernon Center. Her parents were Charles and Julia Force, originally from Portage, Wisconsin.

Don's father ran a meat market in town, was the mayor of Vernon Center for a time and farmed two miles north of town (probably very close to where the Noy farm sits today). The farm was rented from Don's maternal grandfather, but Alexander Gray was not a farmer at heart. He ran a hardware store in Amboy for a time, and when the two young men who bought the meat market from him in Vernon Center, weren't making their payments, the Grays returned to town and to the meat market. The family moved into a small house on the west side of town, about four blocks from the stores and five blocks from school. When Don was 8 years old, his father once again sold the meat market and started a general store. He also purchased a small acreage at the northeast edge of town, consisting of a house, small barn, a small shed and about 12 acres of land and where for the first time they were no longer renters. After the birth of Don's sister Mary, his father sold the property on the east side and brought what might be called one of the "show places on the west side. This was to be their last home in Vernon. There was a large white house and red outbuildings, including a horse and cow barn, hen house and hog houses and a private ice house. The store was sold and Alexander Gray became a cashier and General Manger of the Vernon Center State Bank! In 1922, Alexander Gray received an invitation from the bank in Granada to take over the management.....and receive a better income than he could earn in Vernon during the post WWI recession.

That's sort of a summary of where the Grays were located in and around our town. What I haven't told you are the stories that make up the book. I won't go into the detail, but they are priceless! The stories are loosely organized based on where the family was living at the time. Here are some of the stories that can be found in this book:

	Life on the farm: Don's recollections of the people, events and "the critters" on and around their farm north of town. There's a story about "the privy", "the windmill", "harvest time" and "Christmas" that occur during this period.
	Life in Town on the west side of town: A story about the Meat Market in this section will, I think, make you laugh right out loud and the "prank" described in this story could easily have been pulled off by the current owner of the Vernon Center Meat Market! There are stories about Cousin Harold Halverson and the "secret caves on the Blue Earth". There are stories about Gracie Rew, the early "love of Don's life" and stories about Minnesota weather. The story about attending school and Miss Russell, Don's first teacher is hilarious.....another "laugh out loud" recount. There's also the story of Adolph Zimmer's old horse Schimmel.
	Life on the East side: Here you will find stories of the Pony, the store and World War I and a cute story about the "Whittlers" who sat on benches in front of the Post Office. There are stories about "The Flicks"....the early movies in Vernon Center brought here by the "movie man". There's a story about the "Chautaugua Circuit", whose purpose it was to educate and entertain. There are stories of the County Fair and the Circus, stories about "The Hermit" and "Alan Rambo's Musket"! There's stories of Halloween pranks, like the one involving moving Grandfather Force's privy onto the front yard of Mrs. Partridge!! There are stories about the railroad, "Hoboes" and of course, the Fourth of July! There are also stories about the Churches. The Gray family were Methodists and the Baptist church was still going strong in those days! There are stories about Piano lessons from Miss Cooper, the piano teacher.
	Back to the West Side: After the move back to the west side of town you will learn about the rampant fornication in Vernon Center. I suspect this comes as a real surprise to some of you and will no doubt cause a stampede to the library where this book will soon be found! There are stories about prohibition, and a story about Herbert "Bub" Wilber's calf:) There are exciting stories about the airplane, "the runaway"....an account of an "heroic effort" made by Len Rew. There are stories about "barn dances and box socials" and about "automobiles". The Gray's first car was a 1919 Reo. There are stories about memorial day and sports, notably: marbles, fishing, "skinny dipping" in the Blue Earth River, ice skating on the Blue Earth River, snow sledding down the hill......and "baseball" !
	The Day the Water tower Burned Down!: This is probably the best story in the book. If you don't read the book for any other reason, this would be it. Find out how a City Council decision resulted in causing George (the drunk) and Henry (the lazy), to burn the Vernon Center Water tower to the ground!! This seemingly impossible act, got Vernon Center a spot in "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" !

The Grays left Vernon Center for Granada in the summer of 1922 when Don was 13. During his lifetime, Don lived in Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Paris and London.....but he always thought of Vernon Center as "his home town".

Don's father, Alexander Gray passed away in 1958 at his home in Topeka, Kansas at the age of 79. In 1962, at the age of 80 Myrtle Gray died of a massive stroke in Whittier, California. Don Gray's parents lie together in the Vernon Center Cemetery south of town, where Alexander Gray had requested they be buried. At the end of the day, they both "came home" to the town where they both grew up.

What Became of Don Gray?

Don Gray passed away in 1994 not long after finishing his memoirs and having them printed.

Not unlike Henry Wellcome, who left Garden City to travel the world, found the world renowned Glaxo-Wellome pharmaceutical company, and was knighted "Sir Henry Wellcome" by the Queen of England, Don Gray, his brother Robert (who Grandfather Force said would "never amount to anything"), along with many of their friends, went on to accomplish great things. Don recounts a few of them:

	Robert Gray, Don's brother, became the Chairman and C.E.O. of the George Hormel company.
	Lawrence Warren became the Director of Research for a Division of General Electric.
	Ed Krause went on to own a chain of canning factories.
	Virgil Griffith, became a senior meteorologist in Washington DC.
	Harold Halverson went to work for the General Mills Marketing Division.
	Charles Halverson obtained a Pharmacy degree.
	Sumner Sowers became the first and largest commercial turkey grower in the United States.
	Mary Gray, Don's sister, became the Director of Cabin Services for Eastern Airlines.
	Donald Mertesdorf became a wealthy farmer in the area!
	And Don Gray? He became the Managing Director and C.E.O of Hallmark International, Ltd with main offices in Kansas City and London.

How does Don account for the large number of people accomplishing so much, from such a small town and covering a relatively brief period of history? For himself, he attributes his and his sibling's success to his parents.

"....They let us know that they loved us. They gave us freedom to go at things in our own way. They didn't hold a tight rein on us and they didn't keep warning us of dangers ahead. We were free to make our own mistakes, pick ourselves up and start over. Dad and Mother gave us an inheritance far more valuable than money. Of course, I don't know about the inner workings of the other families, but I expect that if you could ask them, the others would tell you a similar story".

The remainder of the book addresses live in Granada, Don's grown up years, his family, his work, important people he's met along the way and his travels. The entire book is worth reading in its entirety, but certainly for those of us from Vernon Center, the section about "our town" is the most enjoyable.

The autobiography was written largely for Don Gray's grandchildren....so they would have a chance to know him and hear first hand about life in another place and time. Don Gray closes his last chapter and his book as follows:

"Abraham Lincoln wrote about: 'The mystic chords of memory that connect us all to one another, so that in this common purpose we might be reminded of the better angels of our nature'. The mystic chords of memory still connect me to my early days in Vernon Center. To my mother and father. To my brother and sister. To the river. To our secret cave. To school and church, and to winters and summers. Back to those carefree days when life seemed so simple and wonderful.

'We must wait until the sunset to see how beautiful the day has been'

--Said Sophocles (496 B.C.)

I am in my sunset and I can see how beautiful my life has been. And I thank God for it. May I close by quoting to you one of my favorite Bible verses?

'Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for he LORD they GOD is with thee whithersoever thou goest.'

Joshua 1:9

So long, my friend. Be of good cheer."

So....thank you Susan Gray Detweiler for visiting our website, renewing your links to your Dad's "home town" and for sharing his wonderful memoirs with us.

The Autobiography of Don Gray: "We Must Wait Until the Sunset" will be available for "check out" at the Vernon Center Library. For those of you who forgot, or never knew we had a library, it's located at the City Hall.

Oh......I almost forgot. Susan Detweiler told me that she would be pleased to provide "extra copies" for those interested. I already have one request which I will email her about. Since she has been gracious enough to make the offer, let's use good judgment in making those requests :)

Some Pictures from the Book


Alexander Gray, the author's father	Myrtle Force, the author's mother

Methodist Sunday School class, 1915. Gracie Rew seated at right. Cousin Harold Halvorson, standing third from right. Don is the back row, second from left.

Boy Scout Bob Gray and Don (right)

Bob, Don and Mary Gray

Susan Gray Detweiler and her brother John Gray in Life Magazine in 1960

Donald Gray the day he retired from Hallmark on March 1, 1971

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