Ken Gray

Kenneth Francis Gray (24 June 1938 – 18 November 1992) was an international rugby union player from New Zealand. He represented New Zealand in 24 international games, playing lock and later prop forward.

Biography Early life He was born in 1938 in Porirua. He attended Plimmerton School and later Wellington College. As a child he was involved in many sports and showed a particular interest in rugby and showjumping.

He was a sheep farmer in Pāuatahanui, the location of his family's farm. He was married to Joy with whom he had three children.

In the lead up to the 1987 election Gray put himself forward to replace the retiring Gerry Wall as Labour candidate for the Porirua electorate. He was regarded as the favourite in the lead up but in a shock upset he missed out on the nomination to trade unionist Graham Kelly. Three years later he stood for the Labour candidacy in the seat of Wanganui for the 1990 election, but missed out again. This seat was held by National at the time. Historian Lindsay Knight said it was "a seat which he almost certainly would have won". Labour Party leader Mike Moore said "Ken was an outstanding citizen ... He was a man of firm principle. He would have made a marvellous Member of Parliament. Having given more than most people in two lifetimes, he still had so much more to give us."

The Petone Rugby Club, where he played, commemorates him with the Ken Gray Academy. The Ken Gray Education Centre was established in a converted shearing shed on the Battle Hill Forest Farm, near the Gray family farm, Pauatahanui Inlet near Pāuatahanui, after his death.