Hi Rosie,
I hope you had a great day today. I am sure that the many birthday wishes posted on The Lantern brought joy to you.
I have two items of interest share with you. First, I received an email today that Gert Grady, former “Junior High” teacher and later Assistant Principal of the McKinley School passed away the morning of January 1, 2011.She was 98 years old. She was a lovely woman and a good teacher. I know that many of the followers of The Lantern attended the McKinley and were among her students.
I remember Miss Grady well as a History teacher and McKinley Junior High Drama Club Advisor. In fact, I recall being in a play at the holidays under her direction. I don’t remember the name of the play (I bet Sal will!), but I was “Aunt Emily”, George Manzo was “Santa Claus” and Vicki Calla was a main character. There were others, but I can’t recall them. I loved being in the play and have such fond memories of those days. In fact, when I was teaching, I was awarded a grant to reinstitute the Drama Club at McKinley. I did direct a play and it was a wonderful experience for the students and even a better one for me. I thought that you may want to share this information about Miss Grady with The Lantern Gang.
Secondly, I attended a wake tonight and ran into Paul Trunfio and his wife Mary Williams there. We chatted for a while and the subject of our last reunion came up. They did not attend the last reunion and I told them how wonderful it was. I mentioned The Lantern Blog and told him some of the latest news. I suggested that he check it out. He said he was on the site once a long time ago. I promised to send him the address and I think we will soon see him joining the Forever Friends.
That’s all for now, Rosie. Be warm in Florida! It’s 29 degrees here!
Joanne M
I remember Ms.Grady. Wasn't she our 4th grade teacher at McKinley?
ReplyDeleteDidn't she always wear pretty scarfs around he neck?
Wow, 98 years old. I don't believe she ever married. Am I thinking of the right teacher?
She is the teacher that asked me to clean out the desk of Pauline Riley after her brother stabbed her 17 times. I'll never forget that. It traumatized me for years! I was at her house the day before she died. She was teaching me how to play a board game.
Hugs,Rose
I am sad to hear of the death of Miss Grady, Gertrude Grady, who was a wonderful teacher of whom I have many fond memories. In my mind, she's still vibrant as she was when I was her student at McKinley Jr. High. . . sort of the quintessential New England school teacher "of a certain age", embodying a certain era. I see her now--very prim, exceedingly neat, pretty, clear of skin and trim of figure, always dressed nicely, wearing pumps and stockings--the proverbial "schoolmarm" look, I guess you might say. And I recall how she'd smile and beam at Dr. O'Connell, the Principal, when he'd come by her room. He'd just open the door and say "um. . ." and she'd jump up from her desk and hop over to assist him, beaming at him in a fluttering but professional way.
ReplyDeleteAlso, she had an intern from BC in our 8th grade history class, Mr. Cassidy, I think, and he was a fun and interesting addition to our school year. RIP Miss Grady.
Meri
Iremember the name Miss Grady, but I only had the pleasure of one year at McKinley school....It is nice to see that she is remembered so well.
ReplyDeleteI do hope that Mary Williams gets on line with us. As I had mentioned before I found an old picture with Mary in it and remembered her and her pony tail fondly....(I hope to get the picture to Rose for posting_)
Thanks for the updates Joanne !