Former deputy prime minister Herb Gray dies at 82

The Canadian Press Published Monday, April 21, 2014 10:11PM EDT Last Updated Monday, April 21, 2014 10:51PM EDT

OTTAWA -- Herb Gray, a former deputy prime minister and one of Canada's longest-serving parliamentarians, died Monday at the age of 82.

The federal Liberal party said Gray passed away peacefully at an Ottawa hospital.

"Beloved by all, Herb devoted a lifetime to his party and his country, in both good times and bad," Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said in a statement.

"He has left behind an immense legacy unmatched by most in Canadian history."

Gray's career in federal politics spanned nearly four decades, starting in Opposition to John Diefenbaker and sweeping to victory with Jean Chretien's third Liberal majority government in November 2000.

The man sometimes known as The Gray Fog was a master of deflection in the House of Commons, embodying the place where opposition questions disappeared in a miasma of polite, monotonal verbiage.

Constituents, however, said he was a down-to-earth politician who always looked beyond party lines when it came to their concerns.

Gray leaves behind wife Sharon Sholzberg, and two children, Jonathan and Elizabeth, and eight grandchildren.

The Windsor lawyer was first elected to the Commons in 1962 at the age of 31.

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Former deputy prime minister Herb Gray dies at 82