Former State Rep. Barbara Gray Has Died, 87

Originally posted on March 31. Updated with new photo.

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Former State Representative Barbara Gray, 87, died on Friday, March 28, 2014.

Gray, who was a former Framingham Planning Board member, represented the then Sixth Middlesex District from 1973 to 1996. Gray was first elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican, but left as a Democrat.

The fact that she was the only child of a fervent Republican father and "closet Democrat mother" may explain why she began her political career as a liberal Republican, but later converted to the Democratic party.

When Gray moved to Framingham and discovered there was no local League of Women's Voters, she quickly founded one.

In 1973, when she was elected to the state legislature, she was part of a freshman class that included Barney Frank, Edward Markey, and Ray Flynn.

Gray's wrote a book recounting her 24 years as a Framingham state representative serving under four governors titled  A Woman's Ways & Means.

Gray was the recipient of numerous awards from national and state organizations, including the National Office of Victims Assistance, Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, Governors Council, Office of Public Health, Legislators Association, Psychological Association, Vietnam-Era Veterans, Patriot Girl Scout Council, and Massachusetts Bay Community College.

Gray, was living in Wellfleet, at the time of her death. Funeral arrangements had not  been announced by Nickerson Funeral Home of Wellfleet, as of midnight today.

Framingham Patch will update when we have more information.

We encourage residents to post memories of Barbara Gray in the comments below.