Devoted Wife, Mom, Grandma and Great-grandma, Sylvia F. Gray, 72, of Seward, died Sunday, May 18, 2008, in OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center, Rockford.

She was born March 13, 1936, in Mt. Vernon, the daughter of Harvey and Irene (Black) Fryar.

She graduated from Mt. Vernon High School in 1954 and Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, in 1958, with a major in special education.

Sylvia married David Gray on June 30, 1969, in Mt. Vernon; at that time they established their home in Seward.

She was a Girl Scout leader and Cub Scout den mother for several years. Sylvia was a wonderful storyteller, loved to read books of varied topics, helping her grandchildren and the neighborhood children with their homework, crafting, working crossword puzzles, playing computer games with her grandchildren and was charitable to various organizations.

Sylvia is lovingly survived by her husband, David Gray of Seward; children, Jeffrey Batson of Rockford, Sandy Ader of Waupaca, Wisc., Harvey Bruce Batson of Rockford, Barb Schmidtke of Rockford, Kelly and husband James Kohler of Winnebago, Scott Gray of Rockford, Chrissy Gray-Rodriguez of Chicago, and Sean and wife Stacey Gray of Rockford; grandchildren, Joshua, Brittany and Adam Batson, Nikki, Alyssa and Logan Ader, Noelle "Sissy" and Ian Batson, Elizabeth "Betsy" Schmidtke, Miranda Gray, Courtney Strange, Katerina and Cassidy Dunbar, Noah and Parker Kohler, Shylar Gray, Sofie and Camille "Millie" Rodriguez, and Liadan and Corbin Gray; great-grandchildren, Kyle Peters, Jasey Batson and Kyla Hillard; and several nieces and nephews.

Sylvia was predeceased by her parents; son, Patrick Batson on Sept. 11, 1987; three brothers and four sisters.

Service is at 1 p.m., Saturday in Genandt Funeral Home, 602 N. Elida St., Winnebago, with the Rev. Ronald C. Farb, pastor of Seward Congregational Church, officiating. Burial will be in Twelve Mile Grove Cemetery, in Pecatonica.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, a memorial will be established.

To sign the guest book and give your condolences or light a candle, visit www.genandtfuneralhome.com.

Source: Mt. Vernon Register News
Date: May 21, 2008
Submitted by: Janet Fryar Rohlfs
Relationship: Aunt