Our beloved wife, mother, sister, and aunt, Jennet Dianne Gray, born May 31,1946, in Leesville, La., entered into eternal rest peacefully at Alive Hospice in Nashville, Tenn., Friday April 11, 2025, bringing to a close a life marked by profound kindness and love for others.
Jennet was the heartbeat of her family. From the moment of birth, her presence ensured the continuity of care for others. She immediately made herself known as a unique human being. Named after her grandmother, the local librarian, whose love for reading was carried down to her very essence, Jennet would jovially tell new friends that if she had married Tony Bennett, she would be Jennet Bennett, so that they would know how to pronounce her name. This would later personify her love for singers and also for music that tugged on heart strings. Her ideals of love, kindness, compassion, and gratitude defined her life’s purpose of duty and service that will be felt in the resonance of her spirit long after her passing. Her smile brought comfort and her voice acted as the pillar of her identity as a healer in the service to her Lord.
Jennet was raised in a lively family with a legacy of innovators, teachers, and service members. She grew up as the daughter of an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel whose career afforded her the ability to observe in real time some very significant locations in American history, places including: Yokota, Japan, the city of Honolulu when Hawaii became a state, and Alexandria, Va. when her father worked with the Pentagon. These opportunities, no doubt, inspired the creation of the meaningful, impactful, and traveling life she would build for herself.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La., the town famously known for the movie Steel Magnolias, a phrase that, without coincidence, described her character entirely. Shortly after, she was inducted into the United States Air Force at Scott AFB, Ill., and often remarked on how she had to go there out of sheer compliance as it had not been her first or second choice of locations. She quickly realized why life had led her there because she met her soon-to-be husband, Dan, in the officers club and they enjoyed a rich marriage of 53 years. The pair lived and worked in Illinois and Texas where she worked as a surgical and operating room nurse for over 30 years, and also as church secretary for both Ridgewood and Woodland Oaks Churches of Christ, a tenure that spanned over 20 years combined.
In retirement, she and Dan participated with New Life Behavior Ministries, a comprehensive life skills training and spiritual ministry through Highland Heights Church of Christ in Tennessee. Her heart for disadvantaged women, combined with the joy of partnering with her husband in service, touched the lives of more than 150 students per year. The program is frequently described as “life changing,” and it continues unabated through the new leaders they helped develop during their 8 years in the program.
Jennet is and will always be dearly missed. The wealth of wisdom she imparted by her example alone will be felt in perpetuity. Her love of sewing and baking will be enjoyed for years to come by those privileged to be close to her, and her singular walk on this earth will be felt in the resonance of those that were impacted because of her for generations to come. In her final days, she managed her illness with positivity and hope despite the difficulty that it presented. She was the embodiment of her Creator, soft and fragrant like the fragile magnolias growing behind her family home, and as strong in spirit and equally reflective as that of the strongest steel.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Daisy Van Neste, sister Gwen Anderson, and brother Sam Van Neste.
Jennet is survived by her husband of 53 years, Dan Gray of Lebanon,Tenn.; daughter Jennifer of Nashville, Tenn.; sister-in-law Carla Van Neste of San Antonio, Texas; niece Joelle St. Pierre of Kansas City, Mo.; and nephews Eric Jeffreys of New York, N.Y. and John Anderson of Shawnee, Kan.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Alive Hospice.
A graveside service will be held with military honors at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 17, 2025 at O’Fallon City Cemetery in O’Fallon, Ill. A Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 p.m. with visitation one hour prior to service at Highland Heights Church of Christ in Lebanon, Tenn. on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Friends and family are welcome to join for refreshments following the service until 4:30 p.m.
Partlow Funeral Chapel of Lebanon, Tenn. and Wolfersberger Funeral Home of O'Fallon, Ill. are serving the family.
