Myrtle Beach loses a community builder with deep roots in the area

Dan Gray, an entrepreneur and civil servant who many say was devoted to helping the Grand Strand grow and prosper throughout his life, died Tuesday night at the age of 76.

Gray was a business and golf course owner and operator whose commitment to the community included being the first chairman of the Horry County Planning Commission beginning in 1978, and serving on the commission for 23 years.

His family ancestry in the Myrtle Beach area dates back to the late 1700s.

“He has deep roots in this community and he had a great involvement and love for this community,” said Wayne Gray, a Myrtle Beach city councilman for 16 years and one of Gray’s four children. “I feel he gave a lifetime of commitment to making this a better place for people to live and visit, and make a living and raise a family. I hope that’s the legacy he’s remembered by. Not one particular thing, but making this a place for people to fulfill dreams and aspirations that were better than when he came along and better than when his parents came along.”

Wayne Gray said his father died of heart failure.

Gray was the principal developer and owner of River Oaks Golf Club, which has 27 holes designed by Gene Hamm and Tom Jackson that opened between 1987 and 1991. He organized a group of about 10 investors to build the course, and in recent years he spent much of his time as the course’s managing partner.

“He was the heart and soul of that place. We lost the patriarch of River Oaks for sure,” said River Oaks partner and general manager Scott Taylor. “It’s a great loss. We’re all very sad right now. We’re all going to miss him.”

Business leaders who spoke about Gray on Wednesday, including former Myrtle Beach Golf Course Owners Association executive director George Hilliard and Bill Golden, president of Golf Tourism Solutions and the Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday marketing cooperative, noted Gray’s constant concern and support for the area as a whole rather than just his own businesses.

“He was always community-minded,” Golden said. “He always understood the bigger picture of what we were trying to do tourism-wise. He was always a community player in the golf industry.”

Gray’s father, Philip Gray, opened three significant businesses in the area. He started Gray Welding Machine in the early 1940s, which became Grayco Steel Corp., and was in operation for about 50 years – the last 40 with Dan Gray as president.

Philip Gray also started the Genco janitorial supply company that is now owned and operated by some of Dan Gray’s nieces and nephews, including Steve Chapman, and Sunco Pool Company that is now owned and operated by Dan Gray’s sister, Nelda Gray Ball.

Dan Gray had been a representative of the Horry County Solid Waste Authority; served for 10 years on the South Carolina Technical College System board of directors, which helps manage the 16 technical colleges in the state; and was on the Myrtle Beach Convention Center Hotel Board, Horry County Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee, and the state private industry council and industrial workforce board of directors.

There is still a policy in Gray’s name from his time on the county planning commission called the Gray Rule, which requires a certain amount of open green space in relation to the size and density of a proposed development.

After Gray’s sons Wayne and Roger played in the North-South All-Star High School Football Game in Clinton, he was instrumental in bringing the game to Myrtle Beach in December 1986 and served as the event’s president for its Myrtle Beach debut. The game is still played at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.

Wayne Gray credits his father’s community involvement for his decision to serve on the Myrtle Beach City Council for four terms.

“When you grow up and live with someone who is committed to serving your community that becomes a part of your DNA,” Wayne Gray said. “I remember being 7 or 8 years old and being at the Conway Armory after election night, either consoling or congratulating candidates that were running for office.

“That’s a driving force that me and my three children and my siblings witnessed from him.”

Gray is survived by his brother Bob, sisters Nelda Ball and Julia Gray, ex-wife Marjorie Gray, their four children in sons Wayne, Danny and Roger and daughter Danette, widow Denise and stepchildren Kristin Harper and Michael Mittan.

The Gray family will receive friends at McMillan-Small Funeral Home on Friday, April 13, 2018 from 5 to 7 p.m. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. on Saturday at Ocean View Baptist Church and burial with Marine Military and Masonic Honors at Ocean Woods Memorial Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Myrtle Beach All-Sports Booster Club, PO Box 7414 Myrtle Beach, SC 29572.

This story was originally published April 11, 2018 at 11:26 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach loses a community builder with deep roots in the area."