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Grays, Darlene (1951-1968)
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1968 May 9 p. 3
Birth date: 1951
text of obituary:
St. Louis Teenager Victim of Shooting
Elkhart, Ind. (MBMC) — A teenage member of the Bethesda Mennonite Church, St. Louis, was shot to death April 30 outside the front door of her apartment house. Darlene Grays, 17, was one of three residents of the same building who died in shooting incidents during a one-week period.
Miss Grays had gone out to buy a newspaper and returned to find several men fighting in the breezeway outside the apartment. When she approached the door, one of the men grabbed her and attempted to shield himself with her body. His opponent shot and killed both of them. No arrests have been made.
Miss Grays was a senior in high school. She was active in the Bethesda Mennonite Church where she taught a children's Sunday school class.
The apartment is located in the Pruitt-Igoe project, on the near north side in St. Louis, a community of 15,000 residents. The project is administered by the St. Louis Housing Authority.
Hubert Schwartzentruber is the pastor of the Bethesda Church on Dayton Street about three blocks from the project. About six weeks ago, Schwartzentruber and four other persons escaped injury when a bullet passed through their car.
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1968 Jun 13 p. 2
text of obituary:
St. Louis, Mo. — A scholarship fund has been established in memory of the late Darlene Grays, a member of the Bethesda Mennonite Church who was killed in a shooting incident in the Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project on April 30. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Houston, she was a junior at Vashon High School.
The fund is to provide an opportunity for young women of the inner city of St. Louis to attend the college of their choice. It is to be administered by the Bethesda Mennonite Church Council, Mr. and Mrs. Houston, and Mrs. F. D. Miller. Contributions should be made payable to the Darlene Grays Memorial Scholarship Fund and sent to the Bethesda Mennonite Church, 2823 Dayton street, St. Louis.