Arthur Evans Gay, Jr. beloved husband, dad, brother, grandfather, pastor, and friend, passed away at home in McHenry, Illinois, surrounded by his wife and family on July 26, 2023.

Art was born in Nashua, NH on June 28, 1937 to Arthur Evans Gay, Sr. and Marguerite (Winn) Gay. The second of five siblings, Art graduated from Nashua High School and went on to Gordon College, in Massachusetts, where he met Diana Joann Finney. Art and Joann were married in Norfolk, Virginia in 1959. They raised their four children Kim, Nate, Kelley and Lonna, as they served churches in Hill, NH, Scotia and Delmar, NY, Park Ridge, IL and Portland, ME. Devoted to each other for 63 years, they collaborated on countless daily crossword puzzles, prayed daily for their family, shared a passionate concern for refugees, and traveled the world together.

Art earned a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and was ordained into gospel ministry at Trinity Baptist Church of Nashua, NH. He earned a Doctor of Ministry from Bethany Theological Seminary and received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from his beloved Gordon College. As a member minister of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference, Art strove to foster the equal place of women in church leadership.  He participated in the ordination councils of women and men alike as they were examined to be ordained into the evangelical and congregational ministry.

In 1983, while serving as President of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) Art hosted, prayed with and introduced President Ronald Reagan prior to his historic "Evil Empire" speech. His charge to the organization was "that the NAE must not become identified with a particular political party or ideology."

Art had a lifelong concern for refugees and the plight of the displaced. During Art's longest pastorate – at South Park Church in Park Ridge, IL – he was also founding chair of the board of the India Rural Evangelical Fellowship. He traveled to South India often to encourage growth in the significant ministry in Andhra Pradesh. While President and CEO of World Relief, the humanitarian group was involved in relief, development, and reconciliation work in response to the Serbo-Croatian war, Liberian and Sierra Leone fratricides, the Mozambiquan civil war and Rwandan genocide.

In his later years, Art captained the little boat "Diana J" on Casco Bay and the Chain of Lakes, made many friends at local gyms, cheered for the Red Sox and Celtics, mentored young pastors, and became a beloved regular at local coffee shops. He and Joann have twelve grandchildren whom he loved with all his heart.

He will be dearly missed by his wife Diana Joan (Finney) Gay, their children Kim (Bob) Leonard, Nathan (Betsy) Evans, Kelley (Steven) Leigh, Lonna (Todd) Hrabacka, daughter of our heart, Mim Winn, grandchildren Joshua Evans, Grace (Catrina Sustaita) Evans, Daniel Evans, Rae (Anthony Lascola) Hrabacka, Jacob Hrabacka, Ayden Hrabacka, Andrew Leigh, Tyler (Alyssa) Leigh, Isaac (Whitney Davidson) Leigh, Lucas Leigh, Eugene Leonard, John Leonard, great-grandchildren Caleb Hrabacka-Nepstad, Leo Lascola, and Taylor Lascola, siblings Judith (Ralph) Kee, Charles Kimball (Nora) Gay and Carol (Gene) Bailey, sister-in-law Andrea Jeanne (Glenn) Cronin, and many much-loved nieces, nephews, and cousins.

In lieu of flowers please consider a memorial gift to India Rural Evangelical Fellowship or the World Relief Corporation or the Les Turner ALS Foundation.

Memorial service at South Park Church in Park Ridge, IL on Saturday August 19, 2023 at 1pm. The service will be live streamed at:
www.southparkchurch.org/watch-live  or  www.youtube.com/SouthParkChurch