Biography: Dr. John L. Gray of Little Rock, a registered professional forester, former university professor and part-time actor, died May 25, 2007 at Arkansas Hospice. He was 86. He was born in Falls Church, Virginia on July 5, 1920, the son of Dr. and Mrs. Lewis C. Gray. Following basic education in Washington D.C. Public Schools, he earned bachelors and masters degrees in forestry in 1941 and 1942 from Penn State and Yale respectively and, in 1969, a Doctor of Forestry Degree from Duke University's School of Forestry. Following non combat service as an Army Air Corps communications officer in World War II, he joined the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service as an extension forestry specialist. He served for 18 years - the last 13 as Professor and Head, Extension Forestry Department. He left in 1963 to become Professor and Director of the University of Florida's School of Forest Resources and Conservation for 14 years. He then joined the U.S. Forest Service as Director of the Service's Pinchot Institute for Conservation Studies located at the historic home of Gifford Pinchot, the Service's founder, in northeastern Pennsylvania. He retired there in 1982, set up shop as a part-time forest and forestry policy consultant and began to get involved in stage acting with a local church players group. In 1986, he and his wife Mildred, a native of Crossett, moved to Little Rock where he continued to pursue both interests. In the forest and forestry policy area he served as a Senior Associate of Winrock International, chaired committees for the Arkansas Wildlife Federation and the Arkansas Division, Society of American Foresters, and was active on the Arkansas Forestry Association's Communications and Teachers' Conservation Workshop Committees. He took acting training at UALR, appeared in industrial training films and numerous television commercials and, as a volunteer, in plays produced by UALR, Community Theatre of Little Rock and Unicorn Players. Numerous forestry career recognitions included election as Fellow in the Society of American Foresters and as a Charter Member of the Arkansas Foresters Hall of Fame, the Penn State School of Forest Resources' Forestry Achievement Award, the Duke School of Forestry and Environmental Studies' Ralston Award for Distinguished Alumni, the Florida Forestry Association's Distinguished Service Award, and two "President's Awards" from the Arkansas Wildlife Federation. Here in Little Rock he was a member of Pulaski Heights Methodist Church, Apela Club, Dialogue Club and the Little Athletic Club. Graveside services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 2, 2007 at Pinecrest Memorial Park. Memorial services will be at 11:00 a.m. at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church with a reception following at the church. In lieu of flowers, it is requested that memorials be made to: Arkansas Field Office, The Nature Conservancy, 601 North University, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, or to University of Florida - SHARE (marked for "John Gray Fund for Excellence"), School of Forest Resources and Conservation, P.O. Box 110410, Gainesville, Florida 32611-0410. Arrangements are by Ruebel Funeral Home of Little Rock, www.ruebelfuneralhome.com.