State police held a dedication event Friday for the Master Trooper Stephen H. Gray Memorial Interchange. Signs marking the designation have been placed at the U.S. 171 ramps onto Interstate 10.
Gray was killed in a two-vehicle crash on May 29, 1995, while on the way to the scene of a traffic accident on La. 14 near Bell City. He was driving in a heavy rainstorm when he lost control of his vehicle about 15 miles southeast of Lake Charles, crossed into the opposing lane and was broadsided by an oncoming vehicle.
Gray, who had been with state police for 15 years, died of massive head and internal injuries. He was 41 years old.
Sgt. James Anderson, state police spokesman, said Friday that the designation was the idea of Gray’s friend and former Vernon Parish Deputy Dwayne Larriviere, who approached state Sen. John Smith about the possibility. Smith’s legislation made it to Gov. John Bel Edwards’ desk, and the designation became official in May.
“(Stephen) was a good man, a good human being,” Larriviere said. “Everybody who met him liked him. Many came to love him.”
He said that as the resident state trooper for Beauregard Parish, Gray, who was living in DeRidder with his young family, was “well-known and well-loved” there and “not forgotten in Vernon.”
Brian Gray, 26, was only 4 and his brother, Adam Gray, 22, was 3 months old when their father died. Both attended Friday’s event.
“This has been a long time coming, and I’m finally glad that it happened. It has been nice seeing this,” said Brian Gray.
One important person missing from the dedication was Gray’s widow, Paula. She died of cancer in 2008.
“I don’t know exactly what my mother would have said today,” said Adam Gray. “She was much more eloquent that I am. But I know she would have loved it.”
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