L. Patrick Gray III
Class of 1932

The late L. Patrick Gray III led a life of loyalty to his God, his family, his classmates, his friends and his country. That loyalty was shown early in Gray’s life, when he joined the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1940 after going to Rice Institute (now Rice University).

During World War II, Gray served on five successful submarine combat patrols in the Pacific. After the war, he met and wed Beatrice Castle Kirk DeGarmo, the widow of classmate Edward E. DeGarmo, who was lost in action over Okinawa as a Torpedo Squadron Commander. Gray adopted DeGarmo’s two sons, Alan and Edward, and together with their sons, Patrick and Stephen, they formed one strong family unit.

Gray got his law degree after WW II, and then he served as a submarine commander in the Korean War. In 1958, he became military assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and special assistant to the Secretary of Defense. After retiring from the Navy in 1960 with the rank of captain, he practiced law before beginning his decorated life of service for the government of the United States. He became the country’s second FBI Director when appointed to the position by President Richard Nixon upon the death of J. Edgar Hoover in May of 1972. After resigning as acting director of the FBI in 1973, he returned to Connecticut to practice law.

While caught up in the Watergate scandal of Nixon because of his loyalty to the president, he was exonerated of all Watergate charges. Gray did not find out until 2005 that “Deep Throat”—the person who leaked Watergate and other FBI investigation information to the Washington Post was none other than the deputy director of the FBI, W. Mark Felt. Recent disclosures show that Nixon knew in October of 1972 that Felt was leaking information, but there is no information that he ever told Gray.

Gray’s son, Patrick, spoke at the induction ceremony on behalf of his father, his mother, Bea, and the rest of the Gray family. Rear Admiral Charles Gurney, USN (Ret.) introduced Gray at the ceremony

Gray said that his father understood the importance of a good education.

“His father ensured him a good education by sending him to St. Thomas, and my father did the same thing for me and my brothers; this was done by a young naval officer who didn’t have two nickels to rub together,” the younger Gray said. “He was very proud of his education here.”

That love for education has been passed to Gray’s 14 grandchildren, who all graduated from college.

The younger Gray said that while his father was always “in the public life, there was always a private side. He taught us ‘duty, honor, country.’ He also taught us goodness, taught us a strong discipline and taught us that knowledge is power,” said Gray, referring to the Basilian motto.

The younger Gray paid tribute to his late father with a concluding reading of the poem “Sometime at Eve” by Elizabeth Clark Hardy, a fitting poem for a loyal Navy man and honorable father: “Sometime at eve when the tide is low, / I shall slip my mooring and sail away / With no response to the friendly hail / Of kindred craft in the busy bay…/ A few who have watched me sail away / Will miss my craft from the busy bay; / Some friendly barks that were anchored near, / Some loving souls that my heart held dear, / In silent sorrow will drop a tear— / But I shall have peacefully furled my sail / In moorings sheltered from storm or gale / And greeted the friends who have sailed before / O’er the Unknown Sea to the Unseen Shore.”

Following his retirement, Gray and his wife moved to Fleet Landing in Atlantic Beach, Florida. He died last summer (July 6, 2005) and was survived by not only his wife and four sons (Alan, Edward, Patrick and Stephen) but also fourteen grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

His son noted that in the spring of 2008, Times Books will publish Gray’s book, described by the publisher as “the missing piece of the Watergate story.”

L. Patrick Gray III was inducted posthumously into the St. Thomas Hall of Honor May 4, 2006.