Greta Faye Dubone McCray

Greta Faye Dubone McCray, was born and raised in Lake Arthur, Louisiana, on January 16, 1938, to Lovy Dubone and Tim Dubone. She attended McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana and studied nursing. At the age of 19, she relocated to the State of New Jersey where she spent the majority of her life and experiences.

In the mid-sixties, she married Robert Moorehead McCray and had three children. Her first daughter was Monique Elizabeth and her second daughter was Hope Lynne and her only son and her third child was Robert Jr. They resided in East Orange, New Jersey.

In the year 1977, Greta bought her first real estate property which was a one family home in Irvington, New Jersey. Ironically, the house address was the exact ages of all her children (10,8,6=1086). She lived and raised her children in that home until the year 2018. During her lifetime, Greta was always seeking greater opportunities, so she purchased two additional properties in Irvington and Newark, one of which was commercial in use.

She is known as a tremendous cook, ask her neighbors, friends, and family who all would beg that she make that “Gumbo”. She was famous for cooking many Louisiana dishes such as okra and tomatoes, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Pecan Pie, Leg of Lamb, Sweet Potato Pie, Turnips Greens, Blue Crabs, Salmon Croquettes, Potato Salad, Cornbread, Homemade Burgers with Fried Onions, Fresh Ham, German Chocolate Cake and Prime Rib.

Mom saw the importance of her children knowing how to help themselves and taught them to wallpaper, tile floors, paint, cook, clean, prepare the soil for summer gardens as well as preserve and store fruits and vegetables. She was always looking for ways to save money and spend frugally so she would grow her own vegetables, shop at the butcher to stock up on meat before the winter.

Greta loved her home and insisted on taking care of it, so she remained adamant about cleaning, laundry and the upkeep of the home.

In addition, she liked to keep active and involved in her community, so she organized a Neighborhood Watch as well as block parties and the Block Party Association activities.

As children we can recall mom spending many days at home listening to Shirley Cesar, BB King, Lionel Richie, and Earth Wind & Fire. She loved sitting around listening to BB King and Lucille eating her peanuts. Her longtime friends fondly referred to her as “Red” and they would come by the house and listen to the Blues. I can still hear the songs “Lucille” and “The Thrill Is Gone”, which were their favorite songs.

She worked and retired from Bendix now known as L3 Technology in the Aeronautics Department.

View the tribute video here: http://videos.lifetributes.com/1221691

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