For the week of August 1 - 7, 2001

Win Gray, first mayor of Sun Valley, dies

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By PETER BOLTZ
Express Staff Writer

Sun Valley’s first mayor, Winton S. "Win" Gray, died in his sleep July 27, leaving behind a rich legacy of public service. He was 84.

His son, Jed, said his father considered his time as mayor as community service.

"He cared passionately about Sun Valley and the Wood River Valley. He saw growth coming, and he wanted to help plan for it. He felt a need to protect our quality of life and water."

Gray is credited with many accomplishments during his time as mayor from 1957 to 1979. Milestones include formation of the Ketchum and Sun Valley Water and Sewer District, construction of Sun Valley City Hall and the creation of Moritz Community Hospital.

Jed Gray said the need for a hospital, "other than a wing of the Sun Valley Lodge," was one of the main reasons Sun Valley incorporated.

The hospital was named after Dr. John Moritz, the resort’s first year-round doctor when the hospital was a make-shift, eight-room enclave on the third floor of the lodge.

One thing Gray envisioned for the valley, his son said, was a four-lane highway through its length.

He added that his father’s conception of a sewer and water system really stretched the length of the valley, with the sewer treatment plant located near Timmerman Hill at the intersection of Highway 75 and U.S. 20.

Gray said his father was the first to open a real estate office, in a room in the lodge.

"When Bill Janss took ownership of Sun Valley Co., he helped him get a bill passed at the Idaho State Legislature that would allow the building and sale of condominiums."

At that time, IN the mid-1960s Gray calculated, there was no Idaho law that regulated condominiums, which have an unusual form of ownership.

Owners of particular units own the interior walls of the unit, while the condominium association owns the grounds and the exterior walls.

Gray said his father, as a boy and teen living in Buhl, would drive up toward Galena Summit in the summer with his family until they reached snow level. There they would take fresh peaches and use the snow to make hand-cranked ice cream.

"My father was a quiet man, with a good sense of humor. A gentleman’s gentleman."

An obituary appears on page A21 of the printed edition of the Idaho Mountain Express.

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.