Barbara H. Grady

Long-time Livingston resident Barbara H. Grady passed away peacefully in her sleep at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C., on December 30, according to her children. She was 97.

Mrs. Grady and her husband, the late John H. Grady, Jr., a former member of the Livingston Township Council and two-term mayor, had lived in Livingston for 43 years.

The Gradys raised five children, all of whom attended Livingston High School, and all of whom went on to receive college and advanced degrees.

Barbara H. Grady was a teacher, high school guidance counselor, and law school dean of students. Born in 1924 in Youngstown, Ohio, Mrs. Grady, the youngest of three daughters, excelled in school, graduating valedictorian from Rayen High School and at the top of her class from Seton Hill College in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Shortly after her graduation from college, she moved to Washington, D.C. to work for U.S. Congressman John Davis Lodge, who later served as Governor of Connecticut. It was in Washington that she met John Grady and they were married in 1949. Their marriage lasted over 64 years, until Mr. Grady’s passing in 2013.

They settled in Livingston in 1957, and after the youngest of the Grady’s five children entered first grade, Mrs. Grady began teaching at St. Philomena’s School. While teaching, she secured a master’s degree in Counseling from Montclair State College, and then became the guidance director at Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair. She then moved to Seton Hall University to become Dean of Admissions of the University, and subsequently Dean of Admissions at Seton Hall Law School. She later became Dean of Student Services at Seton Hall Law School, a position from which she retired after a successful professional career of over 30 years.

The Gradys lived on West Drive in Livingston, and were active in youth sports, education, public service, and neighborhood activities. Among her many activities, Mrs. Grady was the President of the Livingston Chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

In 2001, the Gradys moved to a retirement community in Gainesville, Virginia. Mrs. Grady remained there until three years after Mr. Grady’s passing.

Barbara Grady is survived by five children: Joanne Grady Huskey of Naples, Florida; Dr. Christine Grady of Washington, D.C.; John H. Grady III of Marietta, Georgia; Barbara Grady Ayer of Albany, California; and Robert E. Grady of Jackson, Wyoming; and by 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org).

Due to current COVID restrictions, the family plans a memorial Mass and service in early April in northern Virginia.