May 26, 1967 - May 30, 2025
Sharp witted, meticulous and exacting with many of his tasks, Dylan Gray tried to hide his huge heart and a love of life behind his opinions and statements of what was right with the world and what needed to be changed. He loved his dogs and his horses, his 2003 Ford Ranger, and paddling. His favourite season was winter and he encouraged everyone to "commune with nature" whenever and wherever they could. He offered that advice in a self-deprecating way, just in case you might mistakenly think he had a soft spot about something, but he didn't fool his friends about the size of his heart.
He was a long-time dog musher. His meticulous planning and lists were fundamental to his success on the trails. And Dylan didn't describe success as winning. He considered finishing a race, caring for his dogs, being prepared and then over prepared, to be the measure of his success.
He lived life on his own terms. Dylan's sense of self, purpose, loyalty to friends and his chosen family compelled him to stick to his principles. He had a great laugh, with his head thrown back and his eyes lit up- his enjoyment amplified particularly if he was the subject of sarcastic and witty comments. He could be silly and joke about aliens making snow angels, and then could engage in serious conversation about climate change. He had friends he played crib with, and Scrabble friends. He had friends who shared ice cream and chicken wings, and those he made bread for, coffee friends, paddling friends and mushing friends. His individuality collected people from across the years and various places he lived, and he remained connected despite years and distance.
He loved outside, being independent and having his own time frame to do his own tasks. He held diverse careers most recently with the GNWT as the Territorial Privacy Specialist, he was also a project coordinator and various other key project roles at the Department of Health, worked at Tourism and Parks, trained as a bartender ,was an entrepreneur, held degrees in Parks & Recreation and Geography, and had enlisted in the military reserves.
The Nickelback song If Today Was Your Last Day was part of Dylan's last playlist, along with Ramblin' Gamblin' Man, Raspberry Beret, Slip Slidin' Away, and Claud Debussy's Clair du Lune to name a few. If you were Dylan, and it was your last day, you would sit on the deck, drink coffee and soak up the sunshine. Then level the house so the door closed properly, empty the outhouse honey bucket, and play with the dog.
Dylan's life lessons: value your friends, commune with nature, look after your stuff, take on nasty tasks so a friend doesn't need to, have a few laughs, hug a tree and remember that everything tastes better with maple syrup.