Leigh Gray

Leigh Gray (Craig), 65, passed away on May 11, 2026, in Indianapolis, Indiana, with her loving husband by her side. It is with heartbreaking sadness that we share the loss of a woman whose gentle spirit, quiet courage, and unwavering love shaped every part of the life we built together. Leigh was the steady center of our family, a sincere, thoughtful, and deeply loyal soul who gave her whole heart to those she loved. Her life was lived with grace, integrity, and a warm, genuine kindness that everyone felt.

Leigh was born on December 18, 1960, in Muncie, Indiana. When she was eight years old, her parents divorced, and she went to live with her grandparents in Hortonville. Later, when her mother remarried, Leigh moved into her mother’s new household in the same area. Those years were not easy. Leigh faced challenges no child should have to face. Even then, she showed the determination and inner strength that would define her throughout her life. As a teenager, she eventually stood up to the person who had made her home unsafe, and that moment changed the course of her life.

Leigh graduated from Westfield High School in 1978, finishing a year early so she could begin supporting herself and building an independent life. She started working at Aetna and moved into her own apartment, and from that point on she never stopped moving forward. Leigh was intelligent, thoughtful, capable, and reliable. She did not speak often about her early hardships, but they shaped her resilience, her empathy, and the steadiness everyone who knew her came to rely on.

Those experiences became the foundation of the woman she would become. They influenced her outlook and the way she carried herself through the world. That influence showed in how she worked, how she cared for others, and how she built the life that followed.

After Aetna, she went to work at Indiana University, first in the Oncology Department and later in Gastroenterology. Both roles required compassion, precision, and the ability to work with people during difficult moments. She later worked at the Dermatopathology Laboratory, where her competence and professionalism made a lasting impression. It was also where, through a bit of quiet orchestration by my father, our paths finally crossed.

From the beginning, Leigh was not only my partner in life but my partner in everything I did. She took an interest in every part of my life, including my work, and she wanted to understand it, participate in it, and support it in every way she could. Before we were married, she joined me in my business, and over the years she became indispensable. She handled bookkeeping, billing, training, technical writing, client support, scheduling, and advising with a consistent professionalism that people trusted immediately. She had a natural ability to work with people, explain things clearly, calm frustrations, and guide clients through new systems with patience and confidence. Her roles in the business continued through her final days, because she was not someone who ever stopped showing up.

What we built together in that business became one of the defining parts of our marriage. It shaped our days, our routines, and our life together for decades. Leigh did not simply help with the business. She helped build it. She put her heart into it because it mattered to me, and because we were building something side by side. She showed up for every part of it, every single day, and that was one of the clearest ways she showed me how much I meant to her. I wish I could thank her again for everything she did and for how completely she stood beside me throughout our life together.

Our work together eventually expanded into AMPWDA (American Mantrailing, Police & Work Dog Association), where Leigh became an important part of the organization. In the early years she helped with seminars, training sessions, and the organizational work that kept everything running, bringing the same quiet competence she brought to every part of her life. Although she was small in stature, she worked her Bloodhound, Chloe, a dog with more power and drive than any I have ever handled, with determination and grit. Chloe could wear out people twice Leigh’s size, including me, yet Leigh never quit. Watching her do that remains one of my proudest memories of her. In recognition of her exceptional leadership and devoted service, she received the AMPWDA Distinguished Service Award.

When Leigh later faced a difficult bout of MS and felt she could no longer safely handle such a powerful dog, she did not step away. Instead, she remained involved by taking on the work that mattered and doing it well. She became the Membership Chairman, a role she served in for fifteen years, and she kept the organization running with the same integrity, precision, and loyalty she brought to everything else. Leigh never sought attention, but the people of AMPWDA understood how much she contributed. Her integrity and reliability helped shape the organization for well over a decade.

Our life together was built around the things we loved, especially our dogs. They were our family, our routine, and our joy. Leigh had a natural way with them, a calmness and warmth that every dog responded to. The house always felt full because of her, full of dogs, full of life, and full of the quiet comfort she created.

It was not only the dogs. Over the years we had two cats who became deeply bonded to Leigh. The first stayed by her side through her first bout with cancer and seemed to understand exactly what she needed. The second remained close to her during her more recent struggles, rarely leaving her and offering the quiet companionship she always appreciated. Those cats were part of her emotional world, and she was part of theirs. They loved her, and she loved them, and they stayed with her through some of the hardest moments of her life.

Throughout our marriage, we traveled together whenever we could, and those trips became some of our best memories. We never traveled without our dogs. Leigh insisted on it, and she would have been unhappy leaving them behind. For her, a vacation was not a vacation unless our dogs were with us. They were part of our family, and she wanted them with us for every moment, every trip, every quiet morning, and every long drive. Those journeys, with the dogs in the back and Leigh beside me, were some of the simplest and happiest times of our life together.

She also loved her gardens, especially her hostas. She took pride in them, tended them carefully, knew each one, and watched them return year after year. It was one of the places where her quiet strength showed itself most clearly. She was patient, attentive, gentle, and always looking after the things she loved.

It was during these years, surrounded by the life we built together, that another chapter opened. One of the most meaningful parts of our life together began when I discovered I had a son, something neither of us had known. It could have been complicated, but Leigh met it with the same grace and loyalty she brought to everything. She welcomed him into our life without hesitation and gave him and his family her love freely and fully. She wanted them to be part of our world, and she embraced them as her own. The time we spent with them, especially with our granddaughter, brought her real joy, and she was proud of the family we became.

Through all of it, the work, the dogs, the cats, the gardens, the travels, the family we welcomed into our life, the long days, and the challenges, Leigh was my partner, my equal, and my home. She was the person I trusted, the person I leaned on, and the person who understood me in a way no one else ever has. Her intelligence matched mine, and her steadiness made our life together feel solid and safe. The life we built was shaped by her kindness, her loyalty, her courage, and the quiet strength she carried every day.

Family

Preceded in death by

her father, Robert H. Craig

her mother, Donna Jean Thompson

Elizabeth, wife of her father

her father-in-law, Howard R. Gray, M.D.

her mother-in-law, Bonnie Arnold Gray

her dogs, Pooh, Budman, Heidi, Bogey, Chloe, and Lizzie

her cat, Tabitha

Survived by

her husband, Dan Gray

her son, Branden James Gray, his partner, Jessica Sparks, and her granddaughter, Madelyn Elizabeth Gray

her surviving pets, Tilly, Lucy, and Lux

her brother, Robert E. Craig (Leah)

her stepbrothers, Doug White (Kim), Bill White (Joni), and Steve White

her brothers in law, Bradley H. Gray (Sylvia) and Timothy K. Gray (Linda)

her seven nieces and nephews

Jessica’s three other children

Memorial Services for Leigh will be announced at a later time.