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Milburn Ray Gravley was active in Carrollton civic affairs for more than half a century, with service that included 12 years as mayor.  Mr. Gravley, 81, died Saturday of complications of cancer at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano.  Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church of Carrollton, where services will be at 1 p.m. Friday. He will be buried with Masonic rites in the Perry Cemetery in Carrollton.

“His main focus was the community — always,” said his wife, Sylvia Gravley of Carrollton. “He just believed in serving his community. He just simply loved the life he lived; he said that many times,” she said. “He always thought that life was a gift — so do good and cherish every moment.”

Born in Carrollton, Mr. Gravley grew up on the family farm. He was the great-grandson of Alexander Wilson Perry, a Carrollton pioneer. Mr. Gravley graduated from Carrollton High School and attended Southern Methodist University. He owned and operated Gravley Hardware Co. in Carrollton’s historic district for many years until he retired in 1981. He was deeply involved with Carrollton for years but did not run for public office until 1982. His non-elected service included being acting city secretary in 1957 and a member of a panel that reviewed the city charter in 1968.

“I always thought that politics and owning a business didn’t mix,” he recalled in 1996. “Lots of people encouraged me to run for office, but I wouldn’t do it. After I retired, several people asked me, ‘What’s your excuse now?’ I didn’t have one, so I ran for the council.”

In 1982, Mr. Gravley was elected to the City Council, where he served and was elected mayor in 1986. He left office in 1994 but felt the call to run for mayor again in 1996. He was drawn back to politics by business owners’ concerns about plans to revitalize Carrollton’s Interstate 35E corridor. He received more than 70 percent of the vote for mayor in the May 1996 election. He served two terms as mayor before retiring from elected office a second time. Mr. Gravley served on dozens of civic boards and committees, including the Dallas County School Board, the Carrollton Planning and Zoning Board and the American Red Cross.

At the time of his death, he was chairman of the Trinity River Authority Advisory Board, a member of Valwood Improvement board, the Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce and the Old Downtown Carrollton Association board.

Story Credit:  Dallas Morning News, October 16, 2012