From Lynda Payne

Shona and I were hired the same year at UMKC. It was a relief to find someone as irreverent as I am in the history department, and given her sense of humour, it was no surprise to find out that she had family from the UK. I was lucky to go to a conference with her in Colorado and she took me on a tour of where she used to live. What a great tour guide she was. We both had an interest in the black death, me as a medical historian and Shona as a Italian mediaevalist. We had some good conversations on it and I learnt a lot from her about family history. Then there was her naughty laugh that others have mentioned -- she was a good mimic too. Miss you Shona for many reasons, Lynda

From Pavlina Tcherneva

Memory of Shona

It was 1996. Having just completed my junior year in college, I took a summer internship that would eventually change my own personal and professional life in important ways, take me to the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and lay the grounds for a cherished friendship with the Wray family.

Pavlina and the Wrays in NY, 2006The first time I met both Shona and Randy was during that same 1996 internship at an economics conference.  As a college student I had read Randy’s book and articles and was very surprised when I met him. He was a young economist with an even younger wife (for some reason I imagined all respected economists to be aging and with thick reading glasses).  Shona was lovely—beautiful, charming, with that unforgettable smile everyone talks about, and also very VERY pregnant.  With one baby in the stroller (Shane) and another one on the way, she was radiant. I vividly remember her wearing a blue dress with white polka dots and a white head band.  I was immediately impressed during our first introduction when I watched her speak to Shane in Italian. Then Alina was born and over the years, I marveled at this beautiful family and the sweet, fun, and smart children they raised.

Alina, Pavlina, and Shona, Florence 2011Over the last few months, my husband and I got to see the Wrays in Florence and ring in the New Year together at our NY home.  Always generous and thoughtful, Shona brought lentils to the party, which is apparently an old Italian tradition that brings health and prosperity during the new year to those who share in it. How very sad and unfair it is that she did not live long enough to enjoy her own health and prosperity. And though her life was cut short, it was by all indications a rich one. And we are all richer for knowing her—as she left an indelible mark on every person who came in contact with her.  There are far too many memories to recount but my family and I grew to love the Wrays and will remember Shona for her charisma, intelligence, kindness, and generosity.  As for me, she will always be that radiant and charming pregnant young woman in the blue polka dot dress from the first time I met her 16 years ago.

From Kurt Christensen

Remembering Dr. Kelly Wray

I attended Prof. Kelly Wray's How-to-History II course in the Spring 2009 semester.  At the time I was an economics graduate student attempting to change his co-discipline to history, I appreciated her guidance and support through the process.  Even after I finished her course, she was always receptive and willing to chat about my progress.  

Two things stick out in my mind when I recall my time in her course.  Once Gianluca Rossi and I were having a discussion about corporate governance, I don't recall the specific details, but Dr. Kelly Wray's ironic response always stuck with me: "I will never understand how you economists think."  

On another occasion, Dr. Kelly Wray had given us a syllabus assignment (in my estimation the highlight of the course).  Given our druthers, we were to create a history course that we would love to teach.  I developed an advanced labor history course on corporate benefits.  This assignment was one of the key factors when I developed my dissertation topic.     

She will be missed.  I offer my condolences to Randy Wray and his family.

From Monica Green

Memories of Shona

Dear Maggi (if I may),

I communicated with the Chair of History at UMKC shortly after Shona's death and sent him a copy of the letter of support I wrote for Shona the year before last when she was applying for the I Tatti scholarship.  

I could go on for pages about how wonderful and pathbreaking Shona's scholarship was (and augured to be in the future).  Indeed, if you've seen that letter, I in fact *have* been known to go on for pages about her work.

But what has elicited this outpouring of remembrance from others was the same thing that most struck me about Shona:  her generosity and curiosity, her frankness and her boldness, her sense of fun and her sense of the seriousness of history and the importance of "getting it right."

One anecdote from 2005:  I was working on a chapter of my book and it dawned on me that there might have been a significant change in medical practitioners' therapeutic practices because of the plague.  So I wrote to Shona asking her if anything was mentioned in the wills from the time of the Black Death that she was working on.  I closed my query, "If this is a crazy question, just say so."  

Well, sure enough, Shona had both the "archival goods" and the generosity to offer a rich answer my question:  "I can't think of any reason why a 14th-century testament would include such explicit and precise medical info [as you're inquiring about]. I certainly have never seen anything like it. No testament even mentions the plague! However, I don't think your question is crazy at all, because it got me wondering how you could find such info."  And so it went.  

My first thought when I heard of Shona's passing was of her children.  I have not met them but I heard of them whenever Shona and I talked.  I want them to know how truly wonderful their mother was, and that so much of her wonderfulness was captured in her humility, her pride in her work, and her joy in life.  She has given you an amazing inheritance.

Monica Green
Professor of History
Arizona State University

From Cathy Basse

We first met Randy and Shona in Kansas City, with our children attending elementary school.  We quickly recognized that we had a lot in common. We joined together with rides and cameras in hand when school functions called and this was a blessing, because we finally had another couple that we could rely upon for co-opting rides, sleep over’s and fact finding missions to the school office, a particular skill of Shona Wray. Coming from California, we didn’t have a rapport with most of the other parents. Meeting Randy and Shona, we soon realized that we had a lot more in common with them, than school aged kids. Shona loved to prepare wonderful dinners, and so did we.

Randy traveled so much that, when he was home, joining our families together on the weekends became a ritual. This soon grew into extravagant large meals, introducing us to colleagues from the university and around the world. We met many of their family and friends who traveled to Kansas City and shared many wonderful times.

“Catching some Wrays” was an affectionate term used around our house as in: Regina's with Alina, "catching some Wrays". Or, I saw a "flash of the Wrays" this morning on the drive to school. Or, hey that looks like "a light Wray"…seeing Shane walking home from school.

Shona was generous with her time, her friendships, her energy and knowledge from cooking to camping, fishing to hiking, booking travel, to discussions about the icky medieval flees of the black death, and of course Italy. Randy was like a captain of a sailing ship bringing back tales meeting scholars and slaying dragons.

Shona and I shared a love of Rumi's poetry. This one hung in our kitchen for most of a school year. It says a lot about the life of a woman known as Shona Kelly Wray.

"My heart, aflame in love, set afire every heart that came in touch with it"
Always and in all ways dear friends,

Cathy, David and Regina Basse