By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Frank Gray has already tried to retire once, back in 1990. The 75-year-old is giving it another shot, after 11 years in the Hooksett Police Department.

At the request of former Police Chief James Oliver, Hooksett's Gray joined the force parttime as an animal control officer in 1994.

Many people in Hooksett know Frank Gray, Hooksett's animal control officer and community relations person. He's retiring from the police force, but plans to stay involved in community projects. (Nicholas Brown Photo)

Since then, Gray's duties have varied widely, to include directing traffic during accidents, teaching Hooksett school children about animal safety, removing bats from houses, handling birds with West Nile virus and supplying equipment to officers in need. Those duties may just scratch the surface.

"He's a jack of all trades," said current Police Chief Stephen Agrafiotis. "Frank does a lot of stuff - he probably does more stuff than we even know about."

Gray eventually held the title of community resource officer, the department's first. "It was developed after (Frank) started," said Police Commission Chairman David Gagnon. "It was a part-time position and it kind of evolved with him."

As for Gray, a former selectman and 2001 Hooksett Citizen of the Year, he joined the force somewhat out of necessity.

"I can't not do something," he said. "After being retired for a couple of years, I was getting antsy."

Gray retired from a telephone company, Nynex, in 1990, after working in the telecommunications industry for nearly three decades.

He and his wife, Elaine, along with their children, moved into a Hackett Hill neighborhood home in 1964, and have lived there ever since.

He's a former Hooksett Men's Club president, school district moderator, Scout leader and Lions Club director.

Aside from his local impacts, Gray has been a member of several state agencies including the Hazardous Waste Transportation Board, the Prison Board of Trustees and the Traffic Safety Committee.

Gray served on Hooksett's final Board of Selectmen, before the town's transition to a council form of government in 1990.

He, along with current Town Councilor George Longfellow, were integral in softening the transition by preparing for a changed fiscal year, creating the first major master plan and establishing the voting districts.

Gray said creating the voting districts caused some controversy in town.

"Everybody thought we had more than 10,000 people," he said.

But Gray held his ground, claiming that the town's population was still under 9,000.

"We used every mathematical invention we could to try and get it right," said Gray.

He even went so far as to have garbage collectors count the number of houses on their routes.

Despite all the years of public service, Gray believes single acts of kindness are most meaningful.

"Sometimes it can be helping people in a minimal, small way, but it's meaningful to them," he said. "I don't look at it like I'm doing something special, I'm just doing my job."

Agrafiotis said Gray's absence will certainly be noticed within the department, but that his experience and variety of duties would be impossible to replace exactly.

"When you add that all up, it's really a help to the agency," he said.

Gray said the decision to retire came after several recent major surgeries.

"I'm going to enjoy my family, my friends and my health," he said.

Gray takes an interesting view of retirement, seeing it as an opportunity to do more, rather than less.

"I've really enjoyed it here," he said. "But I won't miss the structure and the schedules."