LI rights activist Robert O. Gray dies

Robert O. Gray, a former Hempstead Village building inspector and a Nassau County housing inspector known for his civil rights and community activism, has died.

Gray, 60, who lived in the village, died of pneumonia complications Aug. 20. He'd had health issues for years, with heart surgery five years ago and liver cancer surgery last year, his family said.

Born in Long Beach, he graduated from high school there and attended the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University for more than three years before dropping out to become more involved in the civil rights struggle, friends said.

"He certainly made a contribution while he was here," said Mel Jackson, head of the Leadership Training Institute in Hempstead. "Rob was active in the movement, especially in Long Beach and Hempstead, when I headed CORE [Congress of Racial Equality] on Long Island. He'd go out of his way to try to help others."

Former Long Beach Democratic leader Lawrence Elovich said, "I knew him since his high school days. He was a stalwart of Long Beach growing up. I remember him during some of those early '70s days, working hard to prevent trouble in the city. He was always concerned about his community."

Gray had a variety of jobs, including short stints as an employee benefits clerk at the Long Beach Hospital, then as a community worker for Jackson's training institute and at the Economic Opportunity Commission of Nassau County. Later, he was a counselor for the now-defunct Department of Drugs and Alcohol at the Town of Hempstead from 1991 to 1994 and a village building inspector from 1995 to 2009. He'd begun his job with the county in May.

Nassau County Court Judge Jerald Carter of Hempstead called Gray "my friend, who was always talking about what was in the best interest of the Hempstead community. He was comfortable in the streets or the halls of politics."

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He is survived by his wife, Joan, and son, Malik, both of New Bern, N.C.; daughters Ashley of Washington and Felice Gray-Kemp of Hamden, Conn.; brothers Jimmy Flutter of Hartford, Conn., and George Thomas of Hempstead; and two grandsons.

Viewing will be Monday from 10 a.m. to noon and service from noon to 1 p.m., both at the Carl C. Burnett Funeral Home in Hempstead. Burial follows at Greenfield Cemetery in Uniondale.