James W. Gray, 70, of East Oak Lane, a University of Pennsylvania librarian assistant for 40 years, died Friday, Aug. 31, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania of cardiac arrest after spinal surgery.
Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Gray graduated from Edison High School in 1960. He began his career at Penn the next year, at the Biddle Law Library.
Drafted into the Army in 1964, he served for two years as a stateside medic.
Mr. Gray then returned to Penn, where he spent most of his career at the Annenberg School for Communication.
For several years from 1975, his daughter Rashida said, he was a part-time student at Temple University, taking classes in history and education, mostly at night.
