Dr. Collen Ozzetta Gray

Dr. Collen Ozzetta Gray, 90, died, Sunday, July 13, 2025, at Via Christi Village in Pittsburg, Kansas. She was a resident of Pittsburg since the summer of 1969. Collen was born September 8, 1934 in Tecumseh, Oklahoma to William and Elizabeth Lane. She spent the first six years of her life on a ranch in southern Texas where her father worked as a pumper for an oil company. She attended first grade in Bruni, Texas. Her family then moved back to Tecumseh; she graduated from Tecumseh High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma Baptist University, a Master of Arts Degree in Spanish from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D in Spanish and Literature from the University of Missouri. Dr. Gray began her full time teaching career in Laramie, Wyoming 1959 – 1964. where she served as the Foreign Language Coordinator for the Laramie Public Schools. She served as Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages from 1964-1965 in Amarillo High School in Texas. While in Laramie, she had the honor of serving on the Wyoming State Board of Education’s Foreign Language Teacher’ Examining Board. While pursuing her Ph.D. in 1965, Collen was a lecturer for twelve weeks at the University of Hawaii. In 1968 the University of Missouri chose her to take students abroad to the Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey. While there, she was a lecturer. Dr. Gray was a professor at Pittsburg State University for twenty-eight years starting in the fall of 1969 in the newly opened Grubbs Hall. She came to the University to teach all levels of Spanish and to set up a study abroad program. She served as the director of that program from 1969-1972. In 1978 she had a sabbatical to KU to study how to set up and administer an Intensive English Program. She ran a one-summer trial program and the following year she set up the American English Program (Intensive English Program) for Pitt State. She served as director for 10 years. Collen married William A. Gray on November 30, 1973; he preceded her in death on December 11, 2020. Together they were great parents to their three children, Rebecca Ash and her husband Jeff Ash, Des Moines, IA; Ed McKechnie and his partner Andrea Chirafisi, Pittsburg; and Scott Gray who preceded her in death in 2018; Scott’s wife Lisa Gray, Pittsburg, survives. She had seven grandchildren: Nicholas Ash, Des Moines, IA; Lt. William Ash USN, Carmel by the Sea, CA; Austin McKechnie, who will be a senior at the University of Arkansas this fall; Jackson McKechnie, who will be a junior at Emporia State University this fall; Emily Svec, Verona, Mo.; Elizabeth Svec, Washington, DC; and Nicholas Svec who will be a sophomore at St. Louis University this fall. She is also survived by two nieces, Pam Johnson and her husband Merlin; Bartlesville, OK; and Charlotte Yates and her husband John, Little Rock, Ark. Education was very important to Collen. She coached and advised students her entire career at Pitt State and was very supportive of first-generation women who were pursuing an academic degree. She was always well prepared for her classes and was confident in the ability of her students to be successful. She was active on committees and academia while at Pitt State, with Faculty Senate, the KNEA Bargaining Unit, as well as cheering on the Gorillas on the football field or basketball court. She also loved watching the Kansas Jayhawks play basketball when she was a student at KU and then the rest of her life on TV. Collen was preceded in death by her parents, and two sisters, Billie Cochran, Fayetteville, Ark.; and Mona Lane, Stillwater, OK. The family will receive visitors from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16, at the Bath-Naylor Funeral Home in Pittsburg. Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 17, at the Trinity Southern Baptist Church at 301 E. Washington, Pittsburg, KS, with the Rev. Jordan Hodges officiating. Pall bearers will be Austin McKechnie, Jackson McKechnie, Nic Svec, Adam Hayden, Cole Hayden, and Gabe Kimsey. Burial will be in the Highland Park Cemetery next to her husband. Services are under the direction of the Bath-Naylor Funeral Home in Pittsburg. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the General Scholarship Fund at Pittsburg State University.

Dr. Collen Ozzetta Gray

September 8, 1934 - July 13, 2025