09/03/2026
Darrel J. Gray, Jr.
Darrel Gray, age 52, passed away Thursday, August 27, 2026 with his daughter, Eleanor Ruby Gray, known by everybody as Nora, age 17, in the Town of Ava as a result of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident.
Darrel was born in Albion, NY on January 3, 1974 to Barbara and Darrel Gray Sr. Darrel grew up in Kent, NY. He graduated in 1992 from Charles D’Amico High School where he participated on the football and track team. With his football team, Albion Purple Eagles, he played undefeated seasons in 1988 and 1990. In 1990, the football team won the Niagara-Orleans Championship. In 1991, the track team also won the Niagara-Orleans Championship.
After graduation he attended Ashland College before returning home to enter the workforce. During that time he lived primarily in Rochester where he met his wife Marion in 1997. The couple began dating January 31, 1998, at which time Darrel had already accepted a job transfer as a geotechnical engineering tech in Raleigh, NC. They continued their long-distance relationship until Marion graduated and moved to North Carolina. Darrel proposed September 26, 1998 and Marion accepted. During that time, Darrel transitioned to a career as a pharmacy technician. He eventually gained his license as a registered pharmacy technician. Marion’s career led them to Syracuse in 2000 where they lived for three years. They were married September 23, 2000 in Rome, NY. In 2003 they moved to Marion’s hometown of West Leyden, NY where Darrel continued his work as a pharmacy technician working for Mohawk Valley Health System. After many years of struggling with infertility, their daughter Nora was born in 2009, and later in 2012 their son Mitchell was born. They were the light of his life. Nora was daddy’s girl and Mitchell eventually became Darrel’s best friend.
Although Marion knew Darrel loved her deeply, she has always said that football was the true love of Darrel’s life. When she first told him that, he jokingly replied, “Don’t feel bad, honey, I’ve been with football a lot longer than you.” When Darrel was a child living near Buffalo, his mother was a die-hard Buffalo Bills fan and wanted him to be one as well. She taught him all about football. However, when Coach Chuck Knox left the Bills in 1983 and was hired by the Seattle Seahawks, Darrel’s allegiance changed. On that day in 1983 until the day he died, he was an avid Seahawks fan. He was one of the 12s. As a kid he fell in love with his football idols Steve Largent and Jim Zorn, as an adult he fell in love with his football idol Marshawn Lynch.
Eventually his love of football gained him an opportunity in 2015 to become a coach. He was hired by the Adirondack Wildcats as the varsity assistant coach, and he held that position for a decade before being moved to the modified football team as their head coach. This season would have been the beginning of his 12th season with Adirondack and his second season coaching his son Mitchell. He loved coaching Mitchell and took great pride in talking about how well Mitchell had progressed in training this summer. He also assisted in coaching Mitchell’s Pop Warner team in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In 2023 when conflicts arose over his work schedule and football schedule, the Gray family made the decision for Darrel to leave his full-time job, transitioning to a position at Kraft where he worked for over two years.
Over the years, the football team had become a family to Coach Gray. The same year the Adirondack Varsity Wildcats went on to win the Section 3, Class C Championship, Coach Gray had been bringing his son Mitchell to practices to teach the players the value of being a dad. He invested his coaching check back into items for individual players or meals and gifts for the teams. When he was a young man he admired his coaches and hoped he would make an impact on someone the way his coaches had made on him. Darrel was a member of the New York State High School Football Coaches Association where he attended their annual conference every year beginning in 2015. Through his connections in the football community he was given the opportunity to coach at the Dawson Knox Youth Football Camp in 2024 and 2025. He did have a fondness for his childhood team, and when his son began to root for the Bills he took the family to Highmark Stadium to show them the field he had the opportunity to play on with his high school team when it was called Rich Stadium.
Darrel is survived by his wife of nearly 26 years, Marion, and his son, Mitchell, as well as his father- and mother-in-law, Robert Higby and Rita Higby. He is also survived by three half sisters Stacey Graham, Tabitha (Dale) Novak, and Dawn Gray, sister- and brothers-in-law Jean (Mike) Leiber, and Bob Higby, as well as nieces and nephews: Faith, Henry, Isaac, Keira, Brian, Kyle, Devon, Hannah, and Ryan. He also leaves at home his dogs Lance and Lucky.
Darrel is predeceased by his parents, Darrel and Barbara Gray, and his first babies, his dogs: Maggie, Mollie, Sadie, Sophie, Hannah, and Harley. He passed away with his daughter Nora.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend memorial visitation hours for Darrel J. Gray, Jr. and his daughter, Nora Ruby Gray, on Saturday, September 5, 2026, from 10:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M., at the Exhibit Hall on the Boonville Oneida County Fairgrounds, Upper Schuyler St. Boonville. Services will follow at the same location on Saturday, at 3:00 P.M.
Memorial contributions may be made to a fund at Adirondack Central School to establish scholarships in memory of both Darrel and Nora Gray. Send checks to 110 Ford Street Boonville NY 13309. Please address the memo line: Gray Scholarship.
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