Obituary of Richard A. Gay

His family includes his wife, Marilou; three sons and their wives, Jack and Nancy Gay of Columbia, MO, Mike and Jane Gay of Iowa City, and Tim and Leslie Gay of Eugene, OR; daughter and her husband, Julie and John Lavely of Oxford; eleven grandchildren, Allison, Matt and Becky Gay, Kate and Travis Jeffries, John, Amy and Sally Gay, and Adam, Anna, and Nate Lavely; one great-grandson, Takoda Parson; brothers and their wives, Charles and Dorothy Gay of Iowa City, George and Kathrynn Gay of Iowa City, and Robert and Jeannie Gay of Philomath, OR; and sister, Anna Gay of Iowa City. Richard was preceded in death by his parents, and sister, Dorothy Adamson. Richard Alan Gay was born September 9, 1930, in Iowa City, the son of George and Helen (Lake) Gay. He graduated from Iowa City City High School in 1948. On June 25, 1950, he married Marilou Carson. As a young man, Richard worked in the family meat business, Gay’s Meat Locker. Here he worked until the locker closed in 1992. For the past eleven years, Richard worked as the manager of the Johnson County 4-H Fairgrounds. He was an active and longtime member of the First Presbyterian Church, active in the Boy Scouts of America, Johnson County Historical Society, J.C.’s, Iowa City Chamber of Commerce, and the Ag Expo. Richard was recognized for his involvement and support of these organizations receiving the District Award of Merit from the Boy Scouts of America, Chamber of Commerce Service to Youth Award, and he and his wife, Marilou, were inducted into Iowa’s 4-H Hall of Fame at the Iowa State Fair as Johnson County’s “Outstanding 4-H Couple”. In Liew of flowers, memorial donations can be made in Richard's memory to the 4-H Foundation or the First Presbyterian Church.