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Obituary (FL): John Joseph Bray Jr. '59

Posted on 11/04/2019

John Joseph Bray Jr. of London, England, and Key West, Florida died Aug. 18, 2019 at Three Palms Dementia Care Home in Cutler Bay, Florida. Born on July 1, 1937 in Medford Massachusetts, he was the son of John Joseph Bray and Esther Keating Bray. He was a graduate of Hingham High School, Hingham, Massachusetts. As a youngster, John was a bat boy for his beloved Boston Red Sox and lived to see them win four World Series titles. In high school, he was captain of his football, baseball and ice hockey teams. Giving up scholarships to Amherst and Harvard, he chose the U.S. Naval Academy so his sisters could go to college. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy with the class of 1959 and reporting to his first ship, USS Dealey, he was told by the executive officer that his reputation had preceded him. He left the U.S. Navy in 1963 to attend Harvard Business School. In 1965, after graduating from HBS with distinction, he joined Cameron Iron Works of Houston and was posted to London, where he developed a lasting love of his adopted country. He and his team facilitated the construction of Grangemouth Refinery, the largest in Great Britain, as well as the iconic Poolbeg Power Station in Dublin. John returned to the U.S. in 1968 and became a consultant with The Sterling Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1971, he and a small group of colleagues formed the Forum Corporation. After serving as its president and facilitating change in CitiBank, General Motors, Morgan Guarantee Trust and the U.S. Navy, he began work with British Airways, which became the world's favorite airline in less than 10 years. John moved back to London in 1989, and started Forum Europe Ltd., a subsidiary devoted to changing the climate and culture in corporations. Notable successes were PowerGen, as well as British Airways. At the same time, he co-authored the book "Mobilizing the Organisation: Bringing Strategy to Life," which was a finalist in the management book of the year in the Financial Times. In 1993 John left the Forum and struck out again on his own, providing leadership and culture change to the BBC, the National Air Traffic Service, and Olympic Airways. John leaves four children: Kari Bray Kelly of Dublin, Ireland, her husband Sean, sons Oisin and Conor; John J Bray, his wife Laura, their daughters Katie and Sara of Wilmington, Massachusetts; Suzanna Bray of Cambridge, Ma, and Richard W H Bray of London, as well as his wife, Elizabeth Hayward Bray of London and Key West. A memorial service will take place at 2 p.m. at the United States Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Maryland. No flowers, but donations instead to the Dementia Society of America.

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