Nelda Fay Gray, 92

 Nelda Fay Gray, 92 years. five months, and six days, died in the early morning hours of Friday, December 19, 2025, at home in Baudette, Minnesota.

Nelda was born July 13, 1933, in Gouldbusk, Texas, to Fletcher Lafayette Gray and Edith Marie (Noland) Gray. She was a sickly child, and Dr. S.H. Spruiell gave her parents a blue powder and advised them not to call him again. Nelda had a quiet strength that she maintained throughout her life.  

In 1935, the family moved to the San Antonio, Texas, area. Her father, Fletcher, joined the Army in December of 1945, moving the family to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, and later to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Edith separated from Fletcher in 1947 and moved Nelda and her two sisters, Wilma Maxine and Oleta Joyce, back to San Antonio, where Nelda attended Brackenridge High School.

Nelda married Robert A. Anderson on June 19, 1952, in Coldwater, Michigan, at St. Charles Catholic Church.  She met Robert at Playland Park in San Antonio, Texas. Robert was enlisted in the Air Force and stationed at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. Playland Park was a popular meeting place for young people. On a particular visit in 1949, Nelda, accompanied by her sister, picked out two young Air Force boys while Robert was picking her out. She was only 16, and he was 20. They dated for a year before he was shipped out to Korea in 1950 to serve in a MASH unit. 

The family settled in Detroit, Michigan, until September 1967, when they moved to Baudette, Minnesota, with their three children, Ramona, Richard, and Diana. Nelda worked at the Pioneer Nursing Home during the 1970s and 1980s as a nurse’s aide. With their close proximity to the nursing home, she was often called in when other employees could not make it due to severe weather. 

Nelda was an artist who loved to work with oils. She once took a class with Thomas Parr Williamson. The result was a beautiful wilderness scene. But he told her she needed a rock, which she did not know how to do. With a few simple strokes, he put in a rock, and the painting was complete. This was lost in the fire. But her passion was medical knowledge. She owned an entire Medical Encyclopedia set and numerous books, subscribing to several medical publications. She could converse with a doctor without the need for translation into layman’s terms. 

Nelda never particularly enjoyed traveling and was most content close to home. Still, for the people she loved, she made meaningful exceptions. In 2007, she undertook a 6,000-mile, one-month road trip with her daughter Ramona to visit family: her aunt in Oklahoma, her sister Sally in Texas, her brother Jerry in Louisiana, her granddaughter Sally in Virginia, her husband’s family in Michigan, and her granddaughter Jennifer in Wisconsin. In 2015, she traveled to Hawaii, fulfilling a destination her late husband had always hoped to share with her.

Nelda loved animals and could not stand to see one suffering. She fed neighborhood feral cats and allowed several into her home over the years. 

Nelda is survived by her brothers, Jerry Allen Gray of Slidell, Louisiana, James Edward Gray of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Fletcher Lafayette Gray Jr. of Houston, Texas, daughters, Ramona Anderson-Rowett and her husband Chris of Columbia Heights, Minnesota and Diana Knain and her husband Scott of Reynolds, North Dakota; grandchildren Jennifer Jackson and her husband Shawn of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin; Sally McKinney and her husband Chad of Virginia Beach, Virginia; Leslie Stangler of Columbia Heights, Minnesota; Wayne Knain of Bovey, Minnesota; James Knain of Grand Forks, North Dakota; three great-grandchildren, Colleen, Dakota and Sidney and one great-great-grandchild, Payton, all of Wisconsin.

Nelda was preceded in death by her parents, son Richard, and her sisters, Maxine and Sally. 

Mass of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday, February 11th, at 2 p.m., at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Baudette, Minnesota.  Visitation will be held one hour prior to the Mass at the Church. Interment will be later in the spring at Elm Park Cemetery, Baudette, Minnesota. 

The family would like to express our sincere gratitude to the members of Sacred Heart who watched over her during those many Sunday Masses. Nelda was a devout Catholic who attended Mass nearly every Sunday, starting in 1952 at St. Charles Church in Coldwater, Michigan, then at St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, and finally at Sacred Heart. Even when it became difficult for her, it was the one constant in her life. Through the kindness of Eric and Liz Tange, she continued to attend Mass when it became impossible to do so on her own. 

Arrangements by Helgeson Funeral Home, Baudette, Minnesota