On Sunday, November 8th, 2020, Claudia (Sand) Gray, loving wife and mother of three children and four grandchildren, passed away peacefully at the age of 70.

Claudia was born on October 26, 1950 in Stanley, ND to Manda (Aamodt) and Freeman Sand. Her siblings were Sandra (Sand) Reetz, Larrie Sand, Janice (Sand) Johnson, and Marilyn (Sand) Goetz.

Claudia attended New Town High School from 1964-1968. She then went to the University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) to earn her Bachelor’s degree in Education (1968- 1972).

On June 19, 1971 in New Town, ND, she married Bryan Gray.
They raised three daughters, Heidi (Stafslien), Angie (Heupel), and Kristi (Wanner). She also had four grandchildren Ava Stafslien, Sophie Stafslien, Harper Stafslien, and Dominic Wanner.

A big part of Claudia’s life was teaching. She taught elementary & middle school for 38 years in Wahpeton, Palermo, New Town, and Stanley, North Dakota. Claudia won 2 Golden Apple awards for excellence in teaching. She received “Teacher of the Year” award from Stanley Schools. She was also a Headstart teacher in Laramie, WY.
Additionally, she owned and operated Happy Hours Nursery School in her home for several years. Claudia was a CCD teacher, organizer of Christian Women’s Retreats, as well as a Public Speaker at the retreats in Western North Dakota. She sang in the church and community choirs and hosted bible studies and book talks in her home. Claudia wrote plays, stories, poetry, and songs. She also sang and recorded songs with her daughters.

Claudia had a huge passion for her Norwegian heritage and ancestry. She loved spending time teaching her family about Norwegian art, food, and music. One of her favorite trips was going to Norway and getting to visit where her family came from. She also had a home business named “Prairie Nisse” for a few years, where she displayed her hand sculpted Santa dolls at the Norsk Hostfest and other venues.

During her retirement, she babysat her granddaughters and loved doing crafts, baking, and teaching them about her faith. Her main goal was to make sure all of her family joined her in Heaven one day. She will be greatly missed.

Survivors: husband (Bryan), daughters (Heidi, Angie, Kristi), grandchildren (Ava, Sophie, Harper, Dominic) and sister (Marilyn).