Compiled by
Angela Arrington
John Grady
John Grady died on Sunday, July 13, 2008. He was 70. A child of Irish immigrants, he grew up in the city’s Olney section and graduated from Northeast Catholic High School in 1955 — one of 1,229 graduates, earning a distinction in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest high school graduating class at that time. In 2006, the high school honored Grady by inducting him into its hall of fame. He received the Ford Foundation Scholarship and earned a bachelor’s degree. in economics at the University of Notre Dame. He then received a Woodrow Wilson Scholarship and studied economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Subsequently, he earned a master’s degree in economics at Temple University. In 1960, LaSalle’s Economics department chairman, Joseph Flubacher, also a Northeast Catholic graduate, offered him a temporary job teaching economics. He never left. In 1969, he became director of LaSalle’s honors program, which has been recognized as one of the best in the country. He was well known for his work with the national collegiate Honors Council as a founding chair of the Honors Assessment and Evaluation Committee. In 2003, graduates from the Honors Program established a scholarship fund to honor him. For many years, Grady and his family lived in the East Oak Lane section, not far from LaSalle’s campus. This enabled him to walk to campus on snowy days when it was impossible to drive. A funeral Mass was celebrated on July 18 at De LaSalle Chapel. Interment followed at Holy Sepulchre, Cheltenham. He is survived by his wife Helen, his sons, John Jr. and Brian, his daughters Kristine, Kelley and Helene, and 14 grandchildren.
Catholic
Directory:
