Centennial: Twins Lonzie Gray and Vernia Gray Ray

Gadsden, AL- Friends and family members turned out Saturday at the Northeast Etowah Community Center to mark the 100th birthday of twin siblings Lonzie “Rip” Gray and Vernia Gray Ray.

The twins were born on April 23, 2022, in Chambers County, and grew up on a sharecropper’s farm where they worked in the fields, plowed and planted cotton and corn.

After serving in the U.S. Army, Lonzie Gray moved to Gadsden in 1947, and retired from Republic Steel after more than 35 years’ service.

His sister moved to Gadsden in the early 1950s. She worked in private homes, cooking and cleaning, and later worked as a cook in Gadsden City Schools.

Vernia Gray says she gets her strength from prayer and God’s love; her brother says her prayers, and having her by his side, helps keep him going.

(Gadsden Times)