Greeley Gay

**Greeley Gay, age 92**, passed away on March 14, 2011 at Margaret Mary Community Hospital in Batesville, Indiana. He was born in Leslie County, Kentucky on August 7, 1918 to Allen Lewis Gay and Mary Belle Gay. He grew up on the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River, attending various one-room schools throughout the area. He attended Witherspoon College at Buckhorn, Kentucky for the first two years of high school, then traveled to Des Moines, Iowa to complete his high school education. After graduating from Des Moines East High School in 1936, he worked as a stringer and then a reporter for the Des Moines Dispatch, covering the local courts, politics and the statehouse. It was this exposure to the 1930's New Deal politics of Roosevelt that turned him into the life-long Democrat that he was. With a European war forecast, he enlisted in the Army in March, 1941, and served in the US Cavalry medical corps, lancing boils in west Texas. After Pearl Harbor, with more serious intention, he was enrolled in the Army Air Corps, training as a pilot. He received his pilot's certification and his wings on June 26, 1943, and headed to Europe in the late fall of 1943. Piloting a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber out of an 8th Air Force base in the midlands of England, he flew twelve missions over France and Germany. He then transferred to the 15th Air Force in Foggia, Italy. He flew the remainder of his 51 bombing missions over Italy, France, Germany and Eastern Europe. He received the Air Medal and three Oak Leaf Clusters. He returned to the US in late summer of 1944, and continued instructor's training and flying training missions over the US. He was discharged from the Army as a First Lieutenant in the summer of 1945. Upon returning to his family home in Eastern Kentucky, he met and married Gladys Irene Moberg, from Canton, South Dakota. He used his GI Bill benefits to attend the University of Cincinnati, and University of Kentucky, where he received his law degree in August, 1949. Having passed both the Kentucky and Indiana Bar Exams, he and his young family moved to Versailles where in November, 1949 he opened his law practice. He practiced law for 40 years in Versailles, serving as an advocate for those without representation and as a champion of the underdog. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 58 years, Gladys, his parents Allen and Mary Belle Gay, his brothers, Craig and Denver, his sisters, Pearl, Billie and Adelaide. He is survived by his children; son Bill Gay and wife, Ann, of Versailles; daughter Mary Ann Gay of Versailles; son Jack Gay and wife SuEtta of North Vernon; and daughter Susan Gay of Cincinnati Ohio. Also surviving are his hopes for the future, his beloved grandchildren, Jennifer Eaton Gay, Julia Caitlan Gay and William Gay. Visitation will be held Monday, March 21 from 6pm to 8pm at the Stratton-Karsteter Funeral Home in Versailles with funeral services held at the convenience of the family. The Versailles American Legion will conduct military honors. Memorials may be given to the Ripley County Voiture 40 & 8 nurses scholarships in care of the funeral home.