Roy Thomas Bray, Jr., 79, of Gladstone died October 28, 2011 at North Kansas City Memorial Hospital. He is survived by his two children, Roy Thomas Bray III (fiancée Lisa Tooker), Papillion, NE, and Christy Passantino (husband George), Kansas City, MO.

Roy was born July 4, 1932 in Chicago, IL, and was preceded in death by his parents, Roy T. Bray, Sr. and Evelyn (Johnson) Bray and a sister, Shirley Smith. A graduate of Kelly High School in Chicago, Roy served aboard the USS Tutuila during the Korean Conflict, and was in the Naval Reserve until 1960. He married Marsha Nordling (mother of Roy III and Christy) in 1958, and Kathy Burke in 1986.

Roy moved to the Kansas City area in 1961, and was a salesman for Ajax Electric Motors and Prudential Insurance, serving also as president and contract negotiator of Insurance Workers Local 109 until retiring in 1993. During that time he served as a vice president of the Kansas City Central Labor Council. Active in Democratic Party politics, he was President of the Gladstone Democratic Club, a member of the Clay County Democratic Central Committee, Clay County campaign coordinator for Congressman Jerry Litton, and later for Morgan Maxfield in his 1978 Congressional bid. Roy was a candidate for Missouri's 33rd Senate District in 1984. In recent years, he had been active in the Northland's Kosmos Singles Group, and was actively involved in their effort to establish NorthCare Hospice House.

A memorial gathering will take place at Passantino Bros. Funeral Home located at 2117 Independence Ave., Kansas City, MO 64124 on Friday, November 4th from 4:00 to 7:00 P.M. The family requests no flowers and suggests donations to NorthCare Hospice. Online condolences may be offered at www.passantinobros.com