Hazel Yates Gray, 99, home economics teacher at William Penn High School

HAZEL GRAY didn't hesitate to take a share of the credit for the success of her famous son, the late Rev. William H. Gray III.

She believed that his attainments as a Baptist minister, congressman and head of the United Negro College Fund could be traced back to the values he was taught at home.

"He was a very good boy," she once said of her son. "It was just expected and never questioned that children would be obedient and respectful. That seems to be missing in many homes these days."

Hazel Yates Gray, retired home-economics teacher at William Penn High School and civil-rights supporter who hosted the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists in her home, died Friday. She was 99 and was living in Coral Gables, Fla.

She was born and raised in Baton Rouge, La., the daughter of two educators, Bertha and Albert Yates. She graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge, where she met her future husband, Dr. William H. Gray Jr., a professor.

When her husband became president of Florida Normal and Industrial College in St. Augustine, and later Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, she served as first lady.

In 1950, they moved to Philadelphia, where her husband became pastor of Bright Hope Baptist Church, succeeding his father, who was pastor from 1925 to his death in 1949.

Her husband died in 1972, and her son, William H. Gray III, took over as Bright Hope's pastor. He went on to be elected to Congress from the 2nd District in 1979. He became the first African-American majority whip. He left Congress in 1991 to head the United Negro College Fund. He died in 2013.

Hazel earned a master's degree in education from Temple University, and taught home economics at William Penn High School for over 35 years.

She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

"Mrs. Gray was a generous, intelligent woman and will be missed by all who were fortunate enough to know her," her family said.

She is survived by a loving daughter-in-law, Andrea, who cared for her before her death; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. She also was predeceased by a daughter, Dr. Marian Gray Secundy, a bioethics professor at Howard University.

Services: A private memorial will be held to celebrate her life and legacy.