Samuel Wendell Pray 92, died peacefully after a sudden illness on August 5 in Needham. Born in Boston in 1918, he was the son of Thornton C. Pray and Virginia C. Pray. Reared in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, he graduated from The Hill School in 1937 and attended Yale University. In 1941, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private and was subsequently sent to Officer Candidate School. Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the April, 1942, he served as an officer in various U.S. Army artillery units in the U.S. until he landed in France after the Normandy invasion in July, 1944 with XII Corps subsequent to the Normandy invasion. Serving in General Patton’s Third Army as it fought its way across France, he was promoted several times and was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat V and the Croix de Guerre. At end of the war, he was promoted to the rank of Major and remained in the U.S. Army Reserve until 1952. He was a patriot and served the U.S. Government in various capacities well into his 70’s.
During his Army service in France, he met and married his wife, Genevieve Achille-Fould (deceased). With her son by a previous marriage, Jean Louis de Turenne (deceased), they lived first in Boston and later in Villanova, PA, moving to Paris in 1960. For the next twelve years, Sam and Gen Pray were leaders in the American expatriate community in Paris often entertaining there and at Gen’s family chateau, Beychevelle, near Bordeaux. Divorced in 1973, Sam relocated to London where he lived for the next 25 years. Working in the insurance brokerage business and becoming a member of Lloyds of London, he developed a wide circle of friends, both British and Amercan. He was a member of Boodles and Sunningdale Golf Club. Moving to Hilton Head, South Carolina in 1998, he lived in the Tidepoint Retirement Community until 2003 when he moved to North Hill in Needham.
Cheerful in all weathers, he was a great companion and friend in whichever community he lived. He was a terrific athlete; his best sports were golf and squash. He was a wine connoisseur and loved dining out. He traveled extensively. He will be missed by many in Boston, London, Paris and South Carolina.
He is survived by his sister, Patricia Pray Bradley, of North Hill, Needham; his niece, Virginia B. Clark of Rosemont, PA and her husband, Fred; his nephews, Robert H. Bradley, III of Wellesley, and his wife, Nancy, and Peter P. Bradley, of Natick; his 5 grandnieces and nephews; and his 10 great grandnieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held in September. In lieu of flowers, kindly send donations to Boston Trinity Academy Scholarship Fund, 17 Hale Street, Hyde Park, Boston, MA 02136.