Catherine "Cathi" Adams Gray

Catherine “Cathi” Adams Gray, age 68, of Fayetteville, AR, passed unexpectedly on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, in Fayetteville. 

Catherine Eleanor Adams was born on October 12, 1956, in Macon, MS, to Walter Murray Adams, Jr. and Mary Lou née Rouse. After a few years in Meridian, MS, the family moved in 1963 to Gulfport, MS, where Cathi lived most of her life. She attended Bayou View Elementary, Bayou View Junior High, and Gulfport High School where she played piano for the school choir. She studied piano with Margaret M. Shaw in Bayou View. In 1972, she married Hurschell Wayne Gray with whom she had three children; the family attended First Baptist Church in Gulfport. She was employed at Stewart Sneed Hewes Insurance from 1987-1998, working her way from secretary up to Administrative Director while also attending night classes at William Carey College, graduating in 1995. She was Human Resources Director at Treasure Bay Casino from 1999-2003 and then worked in HR at Hancock Bank from 2004-2012. She moved to Fayetteville, AR, to be near her granddaughter, but returned to Gulfport to care for her mother in her final years before returning to Fayetteville, where she lived until her death. 

Cathi was preceded in death by her son, Hurschell Wayne “Little Wayne” Gray, Jr.; her parents; her stepmother, Janice Olevia née Myers of Gulfport; and her sisters-in-law Donna Marie née High Adams of Columbus, MS, and Deborah “Debby” Ann née Ayers Adams of Metairie, LA.

 She is survived by her brothers, Walter Murray Adams III of Metairie, LA, Boyce Elkin Adams, Sr. of Starkville, MS, and Lawrence Rouse Adams of Gulfport; her son, Jeffrey Michael Gray of Fayetteville; her daughter, Theresa Eleanor Gray of Minonk, Illinois; her granddaughter, Emryn Aurora Gray of Fayetteville; and several cousins, nieces, and nephews. 

Cathi’s graveside service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, November 13, 2025, at Evergreen Cemetery, 3735 28th Street, Gulfport, MS, where she will be laid to rest with her son and mother, along with her beloved grandmother Catherine Eleanor “Cassie” née Edwards Rouse. Riemann Family Funeral Home, Gulfport, is serving the family. Please sign the online guestbook and share memories & photos at www.riemannfamily.com