Gerald Alexander “Gerry” Gray
1951-2021
Gerry was born on January 12, 1951 in Aberdeen, Scotland and
emigrated to Toronto, Canada with his mother when only 18 months old.
(He loved to explain that he flew with his mother as cabin luggage.)
He took his first dance lesson when he was only 4 years old and danced
his way through public school, taking lessons in highland, ballet,
tap, and jazz dance. At the age of 16 he left school and turned
professional, accepting a contract with the Montreal folklore company,
Feux-Follets.
Over the next 16 years he danced professionally, wowing
audiences in Canada, USA, Britain, Japan, and Europe. He was
especially proud of his dancing in Feux-Follets (including at both
Expo ’67 and Expo ’70, an appearance on the Ed
Sullivan Show, and 6 years at the Charlottetown Festival). He was also
proud of touring for more than a year with Les Grand Ballets
Canadiens’ rock opera Tommy. Audiences and critics loved him
as well – his hornpipe stopped the show in Feux-Follets and
a critic in the Montreal Gazette wrote that he “danced a
magnificent hornpipe”. (Jan Wright, 1968)
Gerry obtained a degree in Political Science from York
University (1979). In 1981 he gave up his professional dance career
and began a second career with Service Canada. In 1991, with his
former wife Wallena, he moved to Charlottetown, where he spent his
last 30 years. Gerry was a founding President and honorary member of
ACT (a community theatre) and was well known in the local theatre
community. He was also a highly respected Scottish Country Dance
teacher who led workshops in both Canada and USA.
In 1999, Gerry met Brenda Porter and during more than 20
years as partners they shared travels, laughter, good food and wine,
family and friends, theatre, music, and social dancing. With Brenda,
he started the Beaconsfield Heritage Social Dance Group which still
thrives today. Gerry continued to dance beautifully, even as
Huntington’s Disease robbed him of so much. Just this
summer, a member of the Beaconsfield group commented, “You
can still point your toes better than anyone I
know”.
In 1976 Gerry played the dancing lead in the cast of the
musical Brigadoon on Rainbow Stage in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Free
Press critic Jimmy King wrote, “There was magnificent
strength in both his lines and movements and his dancing alone is
worth the price of admission.”
Gerry died peacefully at home, after a brave battle with
Huntington’s Disease. He is survived by his partner, Brenda
Porter, his former wife Wallena Higgins, and several cousins (in
Ontario. Scotland and Australia). He was predeceased by his parents
and his brother, Peter, who also died of Huntington’s
Disease. Special thanks go to Gerry’s coffee and walking
companions, Dr. Randy MacKinnon, the doctors and nurses at the HD
Clinic in Halifax, Barbara Horner, and Dr. Michael Eleff, without
whose collective support Gerry’s journey with HD would have
been so much more difficult.
A celebration of his life will be held at a later date.
Donations in Gerry’s memory can be made to
www.huntingtonsociety.ca. Online condolences can be made at
www.islandowned.ca
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Gerald Alexander Gerry Gray 19512021..
Death notice for the town of: Charlottetown, Province: I-P-E