William Millican Gray was born in Chocolay Township July 14, 1895 and was a lifelong resident of the area. His father, also named William, had died in a logging accident six months before his birth, leaving his mother, Victoria (La Plant) Gray, to raise her four children by herself. But Bill was just 15 when his mother died in 1910. As soon as he could he worked as a farmhand on the Vandenboom farms.

During World War I, he enlisted at Camp Custer, Michigan, on Sept. 22, 1917. And just eight days later, he was discharged for physical disability. After his discharge, Bill returned to Marquette. In 1926 he married Onietta McCain and they went on to have three children. In 1929, he started a food distribution business which he ran until 1963, when he sold it.

In 1943, Marquette’s city recreation department sponsored a charity show to raise money to buy playground equipment for the Washington Street Park (now Harlow Park). To advertise the show, a clown outfit was obtained and Bill Gray was recruited to fill the three foot long shoes, turning him into Happy the Clown.

The idea was for him to walk around downtown on Saturday nights for four weeks to catch people’s interest. Unfortunately it rained those four weeks, but Bill still formed a clown troupe with three other men. As head clown, Happy and his troupe made appearances in parades, circus like events, orphanages, centennials and celebrations of all kinds across the Upper Peninsula and even into Wisconsin.

William M. Gray without makeup and costume. (Photo courtesy of the Marquette Regional History Center)

At its peak, Happy’s career was a 1,625-mile a year travelling job. After selling his business in 1963, he cut back on his travelling, down to 600 miles a year and worked as a traffic crossing guard at Marquette Senior High School and Whitman Elementary School. During those years, Happy was sponsored by the Bancroft Dairy and pulled a miniature milk truck in addition to his circus wagons.

Over the years, Happy changed his act, adding a popular magic act. He said, “Kids never get too sophisticated for magic. They think they know how it’s done, but they don’t. Kids love magic shows because they loved to be fooled. Once you know how a trick is being done, the fun is all gone. They ask me many times how I do it, but I never tell them. It’s my secret.”

Bill is credited with resurrecting the Fourth of July parade in Marquette in 1963 after a several year hiatus for which the Chamber of Commerce honored him as Man of the Year. As Happy, Bill regularly visited the Holy Family Orphanage and Morgan Heights Sanatorium for years. Bay Cliff Heath Camp honored him in 1971 for his dedication to the camp, particularly in promoting projects that raised thousands of dollars. He was also a long-time member of the American Legion and in 1974, they named their class of initiates after him.

Bill described his work, saying, “Clowning is easy. All you’ve got to do is stand up and say nothing. You just have to know your crowd. You have to like it, though. It takes time and effort, but there’s no finer hobby. I’m the luckiest man in the world.” Even so, by the early 1970s, Bill was looking for a replacement so Happy could retire. He offered to train a replacement and expressed a secret wish that one of his eleven grandchildren would follow in his footsteps, taking over those big, three-foot shoes.

William Gray died in January 1977 after several years of ill health.