As a full-time student and counselor at the Youth Opportunity Center, Ball State University graduate student Leigh Ann Gray loved helping children and people in need.
She proved this by stopping Sunday afternoon to help a family that was stranded on the side of Interstate 69.
She then got back on the highway and started to drive away. Soon after, she swerved and ended up in the south-bound lane where she collided with another car, her father, Richard Gray, said.
Twenty-four-year-old Leigh Ann Gray died Sunday from injuries she received in the accident near Anderson.
Leigh Ann Gray was on her way back to Ball State after visiting her sister in Indianapolis when the accident happened, Richard Gray said.
She received a general studies degree from Ball State and was in her second year of graduate school majoring in vocational rehabilitation.
Sharon Bowman, chairwoman of the Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services, said, "She had reached a point in her life where she knew where she was going and what she wanted to do. She was excited about the path she was on."
Leigh Ann Gray worked at the YOC, a resource for disadvantaged children. She worked with children individually and created treatment plans to help them work on certain goals.
Co-worker Lauri Doepke said Leigh Ann Gray was always trying to make improvements at the YOC and make sure people were being served in the best way possible.
"She would always speak her mind," Doepke said. "Whatever she was thinking, she would say it."
Richard Gray said Leigh Ann Gray was busy working full time while also being a full-time student, but she excelled at both.
She wanted to get her master's degree so she could go on to help more people, Richard Gray said.
Bowman also said she saw Leigh Ann Gray's work ethic.
"Leigh Ann was very energetic," Bowman said. "She was a doer. If she thought something needed to be done, she was going to be the first one to volunteer,"
Doepke said Leigh Ann Gray put others first, especially her family.
Leigh Ann Gray had an older sister who graduated from Ball State and a younger sister and brother who are currently attending Ball State.
Leigh Ann Gray was a good example for everyone, Richard Gray said.
"I'm going to try to pattern my life after her," he said. "She was the most special person I've ever known, irregardless of the fact that she was my daughter."
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