BREAKING: March for Life founder Nellie Gray passes away
August 13, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - One of the leading lights of the pro-life movement in the United States has gone out. Nellie Gray, the charismatic founder of the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., the largest annual pro-life event in the country, passed away over the weekend, and was discovered in her apartment earlier today.
Gray was an ubiquitous figure at the pro-life march, her slight frame standing at the podium at stage centre, introducing the many luminaries who addressed the crowd of several hundred thousand during the rally before the march.
Gray founded the march in 1974, and guided its development into a massive annual movement that has inspired copycat marches not only in cities across the U.S., but around the world.
“Every year since 1974, Nellie Gray has mobilized a diverse and energetic army for life,” said Father Pavone, who said he has attended every march since his first one in 1976. “Her own commitment to the cause never wavered. She was a tireless warrior for the unborn and her motto was ‘no exceptions.’ “
Jim Hughes, vice president of International Right to Life, who was a regular attendee at the March for Life an a longtime friend of Nellie’s, described her as “a dynamite personality.”
“She served as a great example to all of us of how to pro-life message out to people,” Hughes told LifeSiteNews.com. “She believed in direct action, and the March for Life was her direct action. She wanted to make sure that all people that joined the pro-life movement understood the first principles, that no compromise meant no compromise with the babies.”
“She was a woman that was so determined that every little baby that died was on her watch, and she wanted to work as hard as she possibly could and with as much ingenuity to change the situation.”
“She has left a tremendous legacy and she will be greatly missed,” he said.
Bryan Kemper, founder of Stand True Ministry and director of Youth Outreach for Priests for Life, said: “My heart is broken by the loss of Nellie Gray, a true pro-life hero and role model. At the same time I celebrate that Nellie is with our Lord who she loved so dearly. I have had the honor of working with Nellie for years and every time I March in DC in January, I know she will be watching over us and praying for us. Nellie Gray, I will miss you dearly.
The 2013 March for Life will mark the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision, and the 39th anniversary of the March.
“It was an anniversary that broke Nellie Gray’s heart every year, and every day,” Father Pavone noted. “In January we will march in her memory, in her honor, to save the unborn children to whom she dedicated her life.”
Gray was an ubiquitous figure at the pro-life march, her slight frame standing at the podium at stage centre, introducing the many luminaries who addressed the crowd of several hundred thousand during the rally before the march.
“Every year since 1974, Nellie Gray has mobilized a diverse and energetic army for life,” said Father Pavone, who said he has attended every march since his first one in 1976. “Her own commitment to the cause never wavered. She was a tireless warrior for the unborn and her motto was ‘no exceptions.’ “
Jim Hughes, vice president of International Right to Life, who was a regular attendee at the March for Life an a longtime friend of Nellie’s, described her as “a dynamite personality.”
“She served as a great example to all of us of how to pro-life message out to people,” Hughes told LifeSiteNews.com. “She believed in direct action, and the March for Life was her direct action. She wanted to make sure that all people that joined the pro-life movement understood the first principles, that no compromise meant no compromise with the babies.”
“She was a woman that was so determined that every little baby that died was on her watch, and she wanted to work as hard as she possibly could and with as much ingenuity to change the situation.”
“She has left a tremendous legacy and she will be greatly missed,” he said.
Bryan Kemper, founder of Stand True Ministry and director of Youth Outreach for Priests for Life, said: “My heart is broken by the loss of Nellie Gray, a true pro-life hero and role model. At the same time I celebrate that Nellie is with our Lord who she loved so dearly. I have had the honor of working with Nellie for years and every time I March in DC in January, I know she will be watching over us and praying for us. Nellie Gray, I will miss you dearly.
The 2013 March for Life will mark the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision, and the 39th anniversary of the March.
“It was an anniversary that broke Nellie Gray’s heart every year, and every day,” Father Pavone noted. “In January we will march in her memory, in her honor, to save the unborn children to whom she dedicated her life.”
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