Joseph Laurence Gray was born in St. Joseph on August 28, 1922. He married Anne Mason Reed in 1947 and together they had eight children.
Joe attended Christian Brothers High School. He graduated from the first aeronautical engineering class at the University of Kansas in 1944. He joined the United States Navy and was sent to John Hopkins University for his Masters in Engineering. After John Hopkins he went to work for General Toftoy at the Bureau of Ordinance in Annapolis, Maryland. While in the Navy he was assigned to the development of rockets and air-breathing jet propulsion devices for guided missiles in the Mojavi Desert. He enjoyed the science of rocket propulsion but wanted to return to St. Joseph and join his father in his tire business. His father realized there was not a good way to lift a vehicle for tire service, and together with his father’s good idea and Joe’s engineering expertise they moved forward with this vision. Together they designed the BF-100, a pneumatic bumper jack. This was the beginning of Gray Manufacturing Co. Inc., which was incorporated on April 15, 1952. Gray Manufacturing continues today under fourth generation family leadership and sells product all over the world.
In 1974 Joe acquired a machine shop in Emporia, Kansas. This lead to the development of a new product line in 1986 of clamping devices that are used in the automotive and aerospace industries. The company was named Vektek, Inc. and quickly became an industry leader.
Joe’s curious mind is always thinking of new and better ways to make, do and design things. A couple of them include a faster way to grow catfish for commercial sales and a pot filling machine that would take the place of several machines road crews used at the time.
Joe believes it is important to serve and give back to St. Joseph. He has done that for many years in many ways. Over the past 20 years Joe has collected art that is displayed throughout the offices in his company, making it a very warm and unique setting for a manufacturing facility. He was Chairman of the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce in 1971 and he led the 1972 City Annexation Drive. He served as County Judge in 1992. Joe has served on many boards and sponsored numerous students with scholarships and financial support. He is a strong supporter of Missouri Western State University and received an Honorary Doctorate in December 2011. The biology departments collection of plants, vertebrates and inter vertebrates is named the Joseph L. Gray National History Collection. Over 25 years Joe and his wife Anne gave over 170 different gifts to Missouri Western State University.
