Fr. Howard J. Gray, SJ, a Jesuit priest well-known as a leader within the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), as an academic and a pioneer of Ignatian spirituality and Jesuit retreats, died May 7 from injuries sustained in a car accident. He was 87.

Fr. Gray was born on May 23, 1930, in Cleveland, Ohio, and entered the Society of Jesus on July 24, 1948. He was ordained at Colombiere Center in Clarkston on June 15, 1961.

Fr. Gray was best known as a gifted spiritual mentor, provincial for the former Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus (1983-89), the founding director of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Boston College (1996-2001), rector of the community and assistant to the president for University Mission and Identity at John Carroll University (2001-07), and as assistant to the president for special projects at Georgetown University, serving in his final year at Georgetown as interim vice president for Mission and Ministry (2007-17).

Throughout his Jesuit life, he led retreats (both preached and directed) and spiritual direction, lectured, and wrote about Ignatian spirituality. His lectures, talks, and retreats took him all over the United States and around the world, including East Africa, East Asia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. His teaching career included positions at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Fordham University, John Carroll University, Loyola University of New Orleans, and the University of Detroit Mercy. Throughout his seven decades as a Jesuit, he received six honorary doctorates, lectured extensively, and authored more than 60 articles and essays on Ignatian spirituality, ministry, and the apostolic mission of Jesuit high schools and universities.

Fr. Gray would have celebrated his 70th year as a Jesuit this July. He most recently served as a retreat and spiritual director for the Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Bloomfield Hills.

A funeral Mass was celebrated May 12 at Gesu Parish in University Heights, Ohio.