The Walter Gray Family Garden
At The Philadelphia Zoo
"What sort of space is that which separates a man
from his fellows and makes him solitary?"
Thoreau’s question was one that our father would have found engaging and perhaps relevant. As he aged, Dad became ever fonder of those moments alone with Nature and devoted himself to caring and feeding all animals that chose to visit his house. He ensured that the yard was welcoming and that no animal would leave hungry.
As children, we would come with him to the Zoo; it was for him the perfect way to spend a day and, for us, a source of endless fascination and discovery. It seems that from the time Philadelphia became home, his bond with the Philadelphia Zoo was formed — fusing his love of animals with his enjoyment of their environs, in many ways, for him, the perfect way to spend a day with his children. The size and scale of the Zoo always ensured diversity and fascination. He would even visit the Zoo alone, long after the children had ‘flown the coop’, relishing all that it meant to him and the memories it brought back.
Dad imbued all of us with his love of the Zoo, and as we (his children) have grown and become parents, trips to the Zoo are a tradition that we have each carried forward from him. The opportunity to endow these gardens, bringing together as they do both Nature and the Zoo, enables us as his family to create a legacy that is as central to Dad as a place and setting can be. So much of the peace that Dad found in life is associated with what these gardens provide; we invite you to join with us in ensuring that they endure and can provide for untold numbers of others the same joy as Nature did for Dad.
In Memory:
The Family of Walter Gray
Text by David Gray
Drawing by Norma Jean Bothmer
