Rodney Curtis Gray

Rodney was born in Cincinnati, OH to the union of Louise and Charles Payne Gray on April 20, 1960. He grew up in Lincoln Heights attending St. Simon of Cyrene and St. Martin de Porres Elementary Schools. He attended Roger Bacon High School and graduated in 1978. After high school, he attended Miami University in Oxford, OH, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration in 1982. By the time he graduated, he was fully proficient in Spanish.

In early 1986, while maintaining a full-time position and serving as a union representative with Owens-Illinois, a plastic products company in Reading, Ohio, Rodney joined the United Way’s Volunteer Cincinnati Program and managed to volunteer in the City of Cincinnati Planning Department a few hours a day for 4 months. Later that year, a City Planner position was advertised, and Lee Meyer (then Administrator of Land Use and Zoning) strongly encouraged Rodney to apply because of his degree/background in Public Administration with an emphasis in Urban Affairs and Administration as well as the experience he had gained during his volunteer experience in the Land Use and Zoning Division. Rodney was awarded the position on June 30, 1986.
Rodney’s employment with the city spanned 35 years for which he was promoted to various roles. In 1988 he was promoted to Senior Real Estate Specialist in the city’s Real Estate Division of the Law Department. In 1990, he was offered a promotional opportunity to return to the City Planning Department until 1999. He then accepted another promotional opportunity and returned to the Law Department’s Real Estate Division where he remained until December 2009 when budget cuts caused a layoff of several unclassified employees. During that time, Rodney received a call about joining MSD as a consultant while positions were being created for the newly formed Right of Way Division. Sixteen months later in 2011, Rodney was hired at MSD as a Senior Real Property Specialist, which was his final promotion.

As a real estate agent, researcher, and negotiator he joined the Right of Way Division. This meant that he bought private property for city projects in compliance with the federal government’s imminent domain policies. He had to maintain a balance between fairly compensating property owners while being prudent with the city’s resources. Rodney enjoyed the challenge of acquiring properties on behalf of the city. He was well equipped for the job having completed ODOT classes, possessing a real estate license, with an added benefit of being a notary. In recognition of his performance, he was awarded Employee of the Year by the Metropolitan Sewer District in 2015 and 2016.

In addition, Rodney was a leader and mentor in the Metropolitan Sewer District’s Student Intern Academy. He provided professional advice, experience, and on the job exposure to potential up and coming public servants who were seeking a career with the city or in the real estate field. After an illustrious career with the city, he retired from the City of Cincinnati in 2021. However, he maintained his real estate license and continued to work with Group Realty, buying and selling residential properties.

Rodney’s interests were very broad. He enjoyed playing bridge, chess, and bid whist. He was a strong debater, negotiator, and political analyst. He loved fishing and adding to his massive coin collection. He was a Star Wars aficionado, loved family gatherings, and enjoyed spending time at the family home in Tennessee. He loved to entertain and was a great storyteller. He was always prepared to provide a history lesson or display his sense of humor through the telling of a funny story or joke. He also loved caring for his aquarium of exotic fish.

As a genealogist since the age of 13, Rodney earned the title of the “Family Genealogist.” At a young age, he sat at our great grandmother Mary’s knee and listened intently as she recounted family stories. He was thoroughly engaged and credits our 100-year-old great grandmother with sparking his curiosity, which remained with him for the rest of his life. He was successful in tracing our mother’s family to 12 prior generations. Based on that history, Rodney developed organizational charts shared at our family reunions in an effort to connect our family to our roots. He served as the chairperson of 16 consecutive family reunions held locally which drew upwards of over 200 family members from across the country. He could talk about family for hours; helping us to delineate between 1st cousin once removed and other family relationships based on his genealogical charting. It is because of Rodney that we learned how massive our family is. It is because of Rodney that we learned about our family’s journey from surviving the ravages of slavery to the present. In a quest for accuracy and historical truth, he took the unusual step with our mother to meet our white family members in Tennessee to discuss our common ancestry and legacy. He was ecstatic about the meeting between the descendants of slaves and slave owners; eventually adding his findings to his extensive body of research. Nothing pleased him more than to help others begin their genealogical journey.

Rodney never met a stranger. He befriended many; seniors and young people alike. He made a commitment to work as an independent contractor for Beech Acres to support underserved youth. He was a teacher at heart; willing to share his time, talent, and treasure. He understood the importance of giving back and committed his life to doing so. He is to be remembered for his kindness, generosity, wisdom, and humility.

Rodney was adventurous and loved exploring other cultures. He loved to travel both domestically and internationally. His travels included: Barbados, St Thomas, Dominican Republic, British Tortola, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, London, Spain, and Portugal. His dream trip of a life time was to visit the Mediterranean. He completed that travel last month in September with Carlos and Darlene; visiting France, Italy, Greece, and Turkey. He was excited about having visited both Europe and Asia. He looked forward to future travel with us and our sister Lynette. Sadly, it was not meant to be.

He leaves to cherish his memory many family members and friends including: Carlos P. Gray Sr. (Gloria), Darlene Gray, and Lynette Gray Jackson, all of Cincinnati, OH; Debora Hendrix of Houston, TX, Vondrea Franklin and Curtis McKinney Jr., both of Cincinnati, OH.

A special aunt, Jenny Cope and a host of nieces and nephews who loved Uncle Rodney.

Special cousins: Linda Davis, Debra Walling, Diane Smith, Rhonda Higgins, and a vast number of cousins too numerous to name, but loved no less.
Dear friends: Ava “Ms. Ave” Turner, Regina Holcomb, Pam Taylor, Craig Tubbs, Jim Berry, Martez “Tez” Famble and the Hooks Family

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