JOHN D. GRADY JR.
Aug. 30, 1921-June 1, 2009
John D. Grady Jr., PE, PLS, president of Contractors & Engineers Services Inc., died at his Walnut Creek home Monday.
Funeral services will be Thursday at 2 p.m. at Garris Chapel United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Jerry Mitchell officiating. Interment will follow at the Grady Family Cemetery in Albertson.
He was born on Aug. 30, 1921, in Great Falls, S.C., the son of the late John David and Ruth Outlaw Grady.
Mr. Grady graduated from B. F. Grady High School when he was 15. He continued his studies at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, the Catholic University, George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Atlantic Christian College in Wilson. He earned certification from the North Carolina Board of Engineers and Land Surveyors as a professional engineer and land surveyor in 1966. Mr. Grady was fortunate in that he found his passion for engineering early in life and through his profession, he fulfilled his calling to help others and his community.
Mr. Grady was a registered professional engineer and a professional land surveyor, a research scientist for roads and paving materials for the North Carolina State Highway Department in Raleigh and an engineer in the Army Corps of Engineers in Wilmington.
He served in the United States Army during World War II as a soldier in the infantry and transferred to the artillery division. After the war, he continued his research in the following jobs: a materials research engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads in Washington, D.C., a highway physical research engineer with the Engineer Research and Development Laboratories in Fort Belvoir, Va., a teacher with Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, D.C., a research scientist with the Army Corps doing atomic bomb testing at Nevada Proving Grounds (Frenchmen's Flat), chief engineer at the Army Corps Office at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, resident civil engineer at Seymour Johnson AFB, owner and president of Contractors and Engineers Services Inc. (incorporated in February 1965 to present), engineer for the Goldsboro Wayne Airport Authority and the Southern Wayne Sanitary District, member of the Underground Storage Tank Council and he opened the first full service environmental testing laboratory in the Wayne County area. He was also a People to People delegate to China, where he helped to improve its infrastructure.
Mr. Grady was honored with the Department of the Army's commendation for fixing critical paving projects in connection with the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was presented a special Department of the Army citation and recommendation, the Arthur S. Fleming Award, for research at the atomic test site of the Nevada Proving Ground.
He was a member of St. Luke United Methodist Church. Other memberships have included the National Society of Professional Engineers, PENC, ASTM Committees, American Concrete Institute and numerous other professional organizations.
Mr. Grady was an active Kiwanian, Mason (Wayne Masonic Lodge No. 112) and Shriner (Sudan Temple) for many years.
His hobbies included golfing and fishing at Walnut Creek Country Club and the North Carolina coast. He enjoyed spending time with the grandchildren, nurturing and mentoring them. His favorite music was the Mills Brothers.
Mr. Grady is survived by his wife, Dorothy Howard; son, John D. Grady, III and wife, Deana White, and their children and John D. Grady IV and wife, Babbs Posey, and their son, his great-grandson, John D. Grady V, Adam Howard Grady and Danielle Rupert, Ginger B. Edwards and husband, Michael, and their two daughters, Amber and Jordan, Kimberly B. Whaley and husband, Ronald J., and their children, Brad, Miranda and Quinton; daughter, Sherry Grady McDonnell and children, Peter Daniel McDonnell Jr. and Catherine Kannady, Grady Howard McDonnell and Ciara Macanas, Melissa McDonnell Hoffman and husband, Tim, and their two daughters, Katie and Hunter, and family friends, Oliver Wendell Smith Jr., and his grandmother, "Mammaw" Cecile Sheppard Smith of Ellisville, Miss.; his daughter, Dixie Grady Jernigan and husband, Dr. Edward Williams Jernigan and their children, Edward Williams Jernigan III and Kelsey Umstead, John Carroll Jernigan and Jordan Vassar McRae Jernigan; his sisters, Mary Anna Grady of Albertson, Peggy Ellis and husband, J.B., of Tarboro; and sister-in-law, Marguerite Howard Hales of LaGrange.
He was preceded in death by his son, Carroll Howard Grady, who died in 1954 at the age of 10; his sister, Amelia Grady Snelling of Amelia Island, Fla.; and his son-in-law, Peter D. McDonnell Sr., PE.
The family will receive friends tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. at Seymour Funeral Home, and at other times at the home, 607 Mill Road, Goldsboro.
(Pd)
Published in Obituaries on June 3, 2009 1:46 PM