Obituary: Remembering Maureen Sonya Gray-Singh

Maureen Sonya Gray-Singh, also known as “Sonya”, owner of Elegant Affairs in Port Jefferson Village, finished her earthly journey on April 20, 2024.  She is survived by her husband Joga, son Ranjeet, daughter Baljit and three beautiful grandchildren, Aryan,  Arjun and Spreet. She was born in Kingston, Jamaica, attended school in Jamaica and England and finished at Stony Brook.

 A loving daughter, she came to America looking for her father, who was in the US Army. She went from base to base until she found him. She learned the importance of generosity after a  challenging period and always enjoyed helping someone as much as she could. When things looked bleak, she would say, “Don’t worry, everything is going to work out–I don’t know how– but it is going to be okay.”

After Sonya lost her leg and became wheelchair-bound, she realized how hard it was to go anywhere when you have to depend on others.  So, she started a nonprofit service to help disabled people who needed a ride.

Her love for kids made her a permanent contributor to children’s hospitals and small soup kitchens. She always encouraged young people to get a good education. 

Working for the US government inspired her to volunteer teaching English as a second language.  In 1985, she started “Elegant Affairs” with little money, but with her hard work and determination, she made it a success while working at her regular job at night and keeping the store open every day. 

She always wanted to help wherever she could and was one of the first members on the board of directors of the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District, nominated by then-Mayor Strong with Mr Carmine and a few others.  At the end of the mayor’s term, she was honored for their excellent work. When Mayor Grant brought the idea of the “Dickens Festival”, she and lots of other businesspeople volunteered and worked hard to make it a success.  Sonya was best described as a woman of courage, determination, resilience who always had a positive attitude and hard-working ethics.