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The Rev. Shirlimarie McAroy-Gray, 63, died Aug. 18 of heart complications at the Washington Hospital Center. The Rev. Rodney Smothers officiated at her funeral Aug. 24 at St. Paul UMC in Oxon Hill, where the church claimed her as its "honored daughter." Also participating in the service were the Revs. Ianther Mills, Washington East District Superintendent; Robert Walker, "a special brother;" George De Ford, Jane Wood, Winifred Blogman and Pastor Johnsie Cogman.

Under her grandmother’s care while growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, she accepted Christ at the age of 6. She was the first member of her family to graduate from high school. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of the District of Columbia, followed by a Juris Doctor Degree (JD) from George Washington University National Law Center and a Masters of Divinity Degree from Howard University School of Divinity. In December 1997 she earned a Doctor of Ministry Degree from United Theological Seminary.. She was ordained in the Baltimore-Washington Conference as a Deacon in June 1994 and as an Elder in June 2003.

McAroy-Gray served as pastor of the Pisgah Charge (Alexandria Chapel and Pisgah Chapel) in Indian Head from 1995 to 2003. During this appointment, she ministered to women who were victims of domestic violence. In 2003 she was appointed to Ward’s Memorial UMC in Owings and in 2009, she was appointed to Lanham UMC, where she served until her health began to fail in 2010.

In 2009 she became an instructor in the Baltimore-Washington Conference Discipleship Academy, where she was one of the first instructors for the Certified Lay Ministry training course. Prior to her ministerial career, she was a senior litigator in the District of Columbia Superior Courts Public Defender Office.

McAroy-Gray received numerous awards such as the Council of Legal Opportunity Scholarship, Georgia Harkness Scholarship, the Ford Foundation Fellowship and the Vernon Johns Preaching Award. Her academic achievements were featured in Jet and Essence Magazines, Gospel Today and several other publications.  She was the author of "Wounded in the House of a Friend: A Paradigm of Affirmation and Healing for African-American Women Victims of Domestic Violence."

She is survived by adopted daughters, sisters Adiya Imani McAlroy-Gray and Amira "Kalah" Makaela McAlroy-Gray.

Condolences may be sent to her sister: Gwendolyn Ritford, 8812 Doris Drive, Fort Washington, MD 20744.

Rev. Shirlimarie Mahalia McAroy-Gray was born April 6, 1948, in Cleveland, Ohio.