Obituary of Toni Elaine Owen Gay

Memorial services for Toni Elaine Owen Gay, age 78, of Wadley will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at 11:00 AM at Benefield Funeral Chapel with Rev. Jimmy Sprayberry and Rev Ted Embry officiating.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 10:00-11:00 AM on Saturday, May 3 before services begin.

Toni was born to Harold Hubert Owen and Imogene Heard Owen in Oxford Alabama on December 18, 1946. She lived in Oxford all of her growing up years and was a member of First Baptist Church Oxford where she was baptized there at the age of ten.

Toni attended Oxford High School, where she was in Who’s Who of American High Schools and was involved in many organizations and activities. She played alto saxophone in the Oxford Yellow Jacket band as well as performed as a majorette in band in her senior year. Toni was voted Most Popular in her class for several years as well as being voted Band Sweetheart and serving as a class officer.

She graduated 8^th in her class of 198 students and went on to attend Jacksonville State University where she was a Marching Ballerina with The Southerners band and Auburn University where she majored in pre-Pharmacy. Along the way in her college years, she transferred to Southern Union Jr College in Wadley Alabama. It was in Wadley that she met and married the love of her life, Ray Gay in April of 1967. She would live in Wadley for the remainder of her life.

Living in Wadley was always a pleasure for Toni. She was active in civic organizations there such as Quest Club and served on the Wadley Town Council for many years helping to make Wadley a wonderful place to live. Toni was also a dedicated church member of Wadley Baptist Church where she served in many capacities including Sunday School Director, singing in the church choir, and helping to start the church pre-school program.  At her passing, she was a member of Mountain Springs Baptist Church.

Toni was an avid gardener, especially of flowers. Along the way, she became a Master Gardener, and each home that she lived in became a testament to her creativity and ingenuity with landscaping.

Toni also loved to travel, having traveled extensively in Europe and Africa, as well as to all 50 U.S. states. In her travels she collected many wonderful souvenirs which she was proud to display in her home.

Toni leaves to cherish her memory her cousins Lori Daniel and Sherry Sprayberry (Jimmy), who were like sisters to her. Other survivors include her many relatives both from the Heard family as well as the Owen family and from the Gay family.  

Toni was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, Harold Hubert Owen, Jr and her husband, Willis Ray Gay.

We would like to thank our caretakers who became like family to us: Penny Tolbert, Hazel Staples, Mollie Battle, Tracie Thomas, and Vivian Kirk who cared for Toni tenderly and lovingly over her last years.

Memorials to Toni may be floral or donations may be made to Mountain Springs Baptist Church.