About Gray Brewer
Gray Brewer was born Feb. 12, 1908, in Washington DC to parents Gilbert R. Brewer, M.D., and Minnie Trammel Brewer, of Stonefort, Illinois. His mother had originally planned to name him Trammel, but, his father had a different idea. Gilbert, who was a medical student at George Washington University at the time, received a perfect score on his anatomy exam on the same day his son was born and he decided to name him Gray in honor of Henry Gray, the author of “Gray’s Anatomy”. Minnie was known to sometimes refer to him as Trammel, but the name Gray stuck.
Gray grew up in Stonefort with two sisters and one brother, all of whom would live well into their eighties and nineties (longevity seems to run in the Brewer family). After high school, Brewer attended Southern Illinois University for two years and later trained as a court reporter in Chicago with shorthand pioneer John Robert Gregg. He worked for a time for the United Fruit Company in Central America where he developed a lifelong love of overly ripe bananas.
After his work for United Fruit, he moved to Washington, D.C. and worked in several government agencies, including the Pan American Union, where he enjoyed hobnobbing with Latin American diplomats. It was near the end of The Great Depression when he met Mildred Pearce from Wilmington, North Carolina. The two were wed on May 23rd, 1936 at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC, and had three children: Barbara, Gray Jr., and Bryan.
The family lived for a time in Southern Illinois, but in 1951, they decided to relocate to southern Florida. After purchasing a house in Miami, Gray worked as a court reporter in the Dade County Courthouse. He also ran for the U.S. Congress as a Republican candidate (unsuccessfully). His next job was Official Court Reporter for the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Florida for Brevard and Seminole counties, a position he would hold until his retirement .
It was during this period, from 1958 to 1963, that Gray met and developed a friendship with Harold Newton. Brewer’s office was in Titusville, but he and his family continued to live in Miami while the children finished school. So Gray boarded during the week at the Dixie Hotel on the Indian River, and on weekends he would drive US1 in his Cadillac 212 miles from Titusville to Miami and back. On these trips, he would frequently stop in Gifford to visit Harold (a highly unusual thing for a white man to do in those days) and more often than not, he would leave the visit with a newly purchased Newton painting in the trunk of his Cadillac.
Gray’s younger son, Bryan, recalls accompanying his father on a few of these visits. He remembers that Gray would call Harold “Fig” (a nickname derived from Fig Newton cookies). They would pull up into the driveway and often “Fig” would be standing outside with boards tacked up on trees, painting away. On one occasion, Bryan noticed a painting of a seascape that he particularly liked. His father bought the painting for him for $100, and it still hangs on the wall in Bryan’s living room today.
Click here to read more about Gray Brewer’s friendship with Harold Newton
Gray retired from his job as Official Court Reporter in 1974. He and Mildred purchased the historic Faber estate on the Indian River in Sharpes, and after rebuilding they moved there to live out their retirement.
Mildred passed away in 2001. Gray Brewer died peacefully at home on Monday, February 11, 2008, one day short of his 100th birthday.