Georgia Neese Clark Gray died in Topeka, Kansas, at age 97, remembered as the first woman U.S. Treasurer.
Georgia Neese Clark Gray died on October 26, 1995, in Topeka, Kansas, at the age of 97. Her death closed out a remarkable life that spanned from her rural Kansas upbringing at the turn of the twentieth century to her groundbreaking service in the federal government at mid-century, and finally to decades of continued civic and banking leadership in her home state.
By the time of her passing, Clark Gray was widely remembered not only for her historic role as the first woman Treasurer of the United States (1949–1953) but also for her earlier career as an actress, her decades running the Richland State Bank (later relocated to Topeka), and her sustained involvement in Democratic Party politics at the state and national level.
Her death was marked by tributes in Kansas media and historical institutions, recognizing her as one of the state's most notable women and a pioneer whose life illustrated the expanding, if still limited, opportunities for women in American public and financial life during the twentieth century. She has continued to be honored posthumously, including through the naming of a performance hall at the Topeka Performing Arts Center, ensuring her legacy remains visible in the community she called home for most of her life.