Second wife of Gerald Gilmore.
Priscilla Grace, 104
Graduated from Radcliffe College in 1954, she was a widowed mother of four teenagers. As a younger woman, she shunned rites of passage such as debutante balls, college, and marriage in exchange for learning to fly biplanes, diving into Boston Harbor in a submarine, and driving west in her Pierce Arrow to see the country.
“She really had a much deeper hunger about life," said her son, John of Belmont. “She had never been to college because she had more interesting things to do as a young woman. She was so widely read even without college, so I’m not sure it made a lot of difference, but she felt it was something she had missed and should take up."
After Radcliffe, she had a career as an elementary school psychologist but never lost her taste for excitement, and rode in a hot-air balloon for the first time when in her 80s.
Ms. Grace died Nov. 9 at Royal Megansett Nursing Home in North Falmouth after a period of declining health. She was 104.
A descendant of prominent Boston families including the Cabots and the Hemenways, Priscilla Bartol grew up at One Chestnut Hill, a home at the upper end of Beacon Hill at the corner of Walnut Street, where her mother was born. Horses still hauled coal up the hill in the winter, and passage to and from school was made by horse-drawn carriage.
Years later, she told her family stories about watching Civil War veterans march in Memorial Day parades in Lancaster, PA, where she had family, and knitting socks at school for World War I troops.
After high school, Ms. Grace pursued her passions for adventure and athletics. She excelled at racquet sports, her family said. In the early 1930s, she was a state champion in women’s badminton and a women’s doubles tennis champion.
On a trip to Greece with her parents at about the same time, she met Frederick Randolph Grace, who was doing graduate work at Harvard College in Greek archaeology. The Bartols hired him to serve as a cultural guide for their trip, according to Ms. Grace’s son Nicholas, of Marion.
Ted Grace, as he was called, hit it off with Priscilla, and they married December 21, 1935.
Beginning his career as a teaching fellow in Harvard’s fine arts department, he introduced her to his studies of ancient art, his love of classical music, and the liberal politics of his large community of colleagues and students in Cambridge.
The couple had four children by the time he enlisted in the Naval Reserve after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In November 1942, he was killed in a collision between two Navy planes, Nicholas said.
Afterward, Ms. Grace relocated with their four children, all under age 6, to the Beacon Hill home where she was raised. The family later moved to Cambridge.
Her sons said that even as a single mother of four young children, she balanced her life, which included a growing role on the boards of civic organizations, with seamless ease.
She was “a steady, strong, positive presence," John said. “She was astonishingly well-informed and well-read. She served as a kind of wonderful reference for us and steady presence in our lives."
Though generally reserved, Ms. Grace took a keen interest in issues and had no reservations about sharing her opinions. She also possessed a “genuine and sophisticated interest" in other people that was her most characteristic trait, Nicholas said. “She was very interested in people, their feelings, what they did, why they wanted to do it, and that sort of thing," he said.
Consequently, it came as no surprise to her children when she concentrated her studies at Radcliffe in psychology. During college, Ms. Grace shared classes with John and Nicholas, who were attending Harvard.
“We had a class in modern European history," Nicholas said. “She did better than me. I used to say it was because I had to study the subject, where she could remember it."
John and his mother sat together in a class called fine arts 13, which students nicknamed “darkness at noon" because the professor would turn off the lights and show slides for much of the class.
“I thought it was wonderful having her there, although a little daunting at first because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to match her academic performance," John said.
Ms. Grace graduated from Radcliffe in 1958 and went to Boston University, where she graduated in 1960 with a master’s in social work.
In 1961, Ms. Grace became the school psychologist at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, a place she loved because each of her children had attended it. She retired in 1975.
She devoted more time in retirement to Boston-area civic organizations, including the Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham and the League of Women Voters, according to John. She also volunteered to work with prisoners and, in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, lent assistance to a hospice group.
In 1996, she married the Rev. Gerald F. Gilmore, a retired Episcopalian minister who had been a student of her first husband. A widow for 54 years, she was 88 when they married; he was 81 (1996).
Given their age, instead of celebrating the date of their marriage every year, the couple made anniversaries a monthly occasion. They lived for a while in Cambridge before moving to Rev. Gilmore’s home on Cape Cod, where
they would gather their families.
Published in the Boston Globe
By Stephanie M. Peters Globe Correspondent January 02, 2012
Priscilla Grace, 104
Graduated from Radcliffe College in 1954, she was a widowed mother of four teenagers. As a younger woman, she shunned rites of passage such as debutante balls, college, and marriage in exchange for learning to fly biplanes, diving into Boston Harbor in a submarine, and driving west in her Pierce Arrow to see the country.
“She really had a much deeper hunger about life," said her son, John of Belmont. “She had never been to college because she had more interesting things to do as a young woman. She was so widely read even without college, so I’m not sure it made a lot of difference, but she felt it was something she had missed and should take up."
After Radcliffe, she had a career as an elementary school psychologist but never lost her taste for excitement, and rode in a hot-air balloon for the first time when in her 80s.
Ms. Grace died Nov. 9 at Royal Megansett Nursing Home in North Falmouth after a period of declining health. She was 104.
A descendant of prominent Boston families including the Cabots and the Hemenways, Priscilla Bartol grew up at One Chestnut Hill, a home at the upper end of Beacon Hill at the corner of Walnut Street, where her mother was born. Horses still hauled coal up the hill in the winter, and passage to and from school was made by horse-drawn carriage.
Years later, she told her family stories about watching Civil War veterans march in Memorial Day parades in Lancaster, PA, where she had family, and knitting socks at school for World War I troops.
After high school, Ms. Grace pursued her passions for adventure and athletics. She excelled at racquet sports, her family said. In the early 1930s, she was a state champion in women’s badminton and a women’s doubles tennis champion.
On a trip to Greece with her parents at about the same time, she met Frederick Randolph Grace, who was doing graduate work at Harvard College in Greek archaeology. The Bartols hired him to serve as a cultural guide for their trip, according to Ms. Grace’s son Nicholas, of Marion.
Ted Grace, as he was called, hit it off with Priscilla, and they married December 21, 1935.
Beginning his career as a teaching fellow in Harvard’s fine arts department, he introduced her to his studies of ancient art, his love of classical music, and the liberal politics of his large community of colleagues and students in Cambridge.
The couple had four children by the time he enlisted in the Naval Reserve after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In November 1942, he was killed in a collision between two Navy planes, Nicholas said.
Afterward, Ms. Grace relocated with their four children, all under age 6, to the Beacon Hill home where she was raised. The family later moved to Cambridge.
Her sons said that even as a single mother of four young children, she balanced her life, which included a growing role on the boards of civic organizations, with seamless ease.
She was “a steady, strong, positive presence," John said. “She was astonishingly well-informed and well-read. She served as a kind of wonderful reference for us and steady presence in our lives."
Though generally reserved, Ms. Grace took a keen interest in issues and had no reservations about sharing her opinions. She also possessed a “genuine and sophisticated interest" in other people that was her most characteristic trait, Nicholas said. “She was very interested in people, their feelings, what they did, why they wanted to do it, and that sort of thing," he said.
Consequently, it came as no surprise to her children when she concentrated her studies at Radcliffe in psychology. During college, Ms. Grace shared classes with John and Nicholas, who were attending Harvard.
“We had a class in modern European history," Nicholas said. “She did better than me. I used to say it was because I had to study the subject, where she could remember it."
John and his mother sat together in a class called fine arts 13, which students nicknamed “darkness at noon" because the professor would turn off the lights and show slides for much of the class.
“I thought it was wonderful having her there, although a little daunting at first because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to match her academic performance," John said.
Ms. Grace graduated from Radcliffe in 1958 and went to Boston University, where she graduated in 1960 with a master’s in social work.
In 1961, Ms. Grace became the school psychologist at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, a place she loved because each of her children had attended it. She retired in 1975.
She devoted more time in retirement to Boston-area civic organizations, including the Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham and the League of Women Voters, according to John. She also volunteered to work with prisoners and, in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, lent assistance to a hospice group.
In 1996, she married the Rev. Gerald F. Gilmore, a retired Episcopalian minister who had been a student of her first husband. A widow for 54 years, she was 88 when they married; he was 81 (1996).
Given their age, instead of celebrating the date of their marriage every year, the couple made anniversaries a monthly occasion. They lived for a while in Cambridge before moving to Rev. Gilmore’s home on Cape Cod, where
they would gather their families.
Published in the Boston Globe
By Stephanie M. Peters Globe Correspondent January 02, 2012
Second wife of Gerald Gilmore.
Priscilla Grace, 104
Graduated from Radcliffe College in 1954, she was a widowed mother of four teenagers. As a younger woman, she shunned rites of passage such as debutante balls, college, and marriage in exchange for learning to fly biplanes, diving into Boston Harbor in a submarine, and driving west in her Pierce Arrow to see the country.
“She really had a much deeper hunger about life," said her son, John of Belmont. “She had never been to college because she had more interesting things to do as a young woman. She was so widely read even without college, so I’m not sure it made a lot of difference, but she felt it was something she had missed and should take up."
After Radcliffe, she had a career as an elementary school psychologist but never lost her taste for excitement, and rode in a hot-air balloon for the first time when in her 80s.
Ms. Grace died Nov. 9 at Royal Megansett Nursing Home in North Falmouth after a period of declining health. She was 104.
A descendant of prominent Boston families including the Cabots and the Hemenways, Priscilla Bartol grew up at One Chestnut Hill, a home at the upper end of Beacon Hill at the corner of Walnut Street, where her mother was born. Horses still hauled coal up the hill in the winter, and passage to and from school was made by horse-drawn carriage.
Years later, she told her family stories about watching Civil War veterans march in Memorial Day parades in Lancaster, PA, where she had family, and knitting socks at school for World War I troops.
After high school, Ms. Grace pursued her passions for adventure and athletics. She excelled at racquet sports, her family said. In the early 1930s, she was a state champion in women’s badminton and a women’s doubles tennis champion.
On a trip to Greece with her parents at about the same time, she met Frederick Randolph Grace, who was doing graduate work at Harvard College in Greek archaeology. The Bartols hired him to serve as a cultural guide for their trip, according to Ms. Grace’s son Nicholas, of Marion.
Ted Grace, as he was called, hit it off with Priscilla, and they married December 21, 1935.
Beginning his career as a teaching fellow in Harvard’s fine arts department, he introduced her to his studies of ancient art, his love of classical music, and the liberal politics of his large community of colleagues and students in Cambridge.
The couple had four children by the time he enlisted in the Naval Reserve after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In November 1942, he was killed in a collision between two Navy planes, Nicholas said.
Afterward, Ms. Grace relocated with their four children, all under age 6, to the Beacon Hill home where she was raised. The family later moved to Cambridge.
Her sons said that even as a single mother of four young children, she balanced her life, which included a growing role on the boards of civic organizations, with seamless ease.
She was “a steady, strong, positive presence," John said. “She was astonishingly well-informed and well-read. She served as a kind of wonderful reference for us and steady presence in our lives."
Though generally reserved, Ms. Grace took a keen interest in issues and had no reservations about sharing her opinions. She also possessed a “genuine and sophisticated interest" in other people that was her most characteristic trait, Nicholas said. “She was very interested in people, their feelings, what they did, why they wanted to do it, and that sort of thing," he said.
Consequently, it came as no surprise to her children when she concentrated her studies at Radcliffe in psychology. During college, Ms. Grace shared classes with John and Nicholas, who were attending Harvard.
“We had a class in modern European history," Nicholas said. “She did better than me. I used to say it was because I had to study the subject, where she could remember it."
John and his mother sat together in a class called fine arts 13, which students nicknamed “darkness at noon" because the professor would turn off the lights and show slides for much of the class.
“I thought it was wonderful having her there, although a little daunting at first because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to match her academic performance," John said.
Ms. Grace graduated from Radcliffe in 1958 and went to Boston University, where she graduated in 1960 with a master’s in social work.
In 1961, Ms. Grace became the school psychologist at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, a place she loved because each of her children had attended it. She retired in 1975.
She devoted more time in retirement to Boston-area civic organizations, including the Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham and the League of Women Voters, according to John. She also volunteered to work with prisoners and, in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, lent assistance to a hospice group.
In 1996, she married the Rev. Gerald F. Gilmore, a retired Episcopalian minister who had been a student of her first husband. A widow for 54 years, she was 88 when they married; he was 81 (1996).
Given their age, instead of celebrating the date of their marriage every year, the couple made anniversaries a monthly occasion. They lived for a while in Cambridge before moving to Rev. Gilmore’s home on Cape Cod, where
they would gather their families.
Published in the Boston Globe
By Stephanie M. Peters Globe Correspondent January 02, 2012
Priscilla Grace, 104
Graduated from Radcliffe College in 1954, she was a widowed mother of four teenagers. As a younger woman, she shunned rites of passage such as debutante balls, college, and marriage in exchange for learning to fly biplanes, diving into Boston Harbor in a submarine, and driving west in her Pierce Arrow to see the country.
“She really had a much deeper hunger about life," said her son, John of Belmont. “She had never been to college because she had more interesting things to do as a young woman. She was so widely read even without college, so I’m not sure it made a lot of difference, but she felt it was something she had missed and should take up."
After Radcliffe, she had a career as an elementary school psychologist but never lost her taste for excitement, and rode in a hot-air balloon for the first time when in her 80s.
Ms. Grace died Nov. 9 at Royal Megansett Nursing Home in North Falmouth after a period of declining health. She was 104.
A descendant of prominent Boston families including the Cabots and the Hemenways, Priscilla Bartol grew up at One Chestnut Hill, a home at the upper end of Beacon Hill at the corner of Walnut Street, where her mother was born. Horses still hauled coal up the hill in the winter, and passage to and from school was made by horse-drawn carriage.
Years later, she told her family stories about watching Civil War veterans march in Memorial Day parades in Lancaster, PA, where she had family, and knitting socks at school for World War I troops.
After high school, Ms. Grace pursued her passions for adventure and athletics. She excelled at racquet sports, her family said. In the early 1930s, she was a state champion in women’s badminton and a women’s doubles tennis champion.
On a trip to Greece with her parents at about the same time, she met Frederick Randolph Grace, who was doing graduate work at Harvard College in Greek archaeology. The Bartols hired him to serve as a cultural guide for their trip, according to Ms. Grace’s son Nicholas, of Marion.
Ted Grace, as he was called, hit it off with Priscilla, and they married December 21, 1935.
Beginning his career as a teaching fellow in Harvard’s fine arts department, he introduced her to his studies of ancient art, his love of classical music, and the liberal politics of his large community of colleagues and students in Cambridge.
The couple had four children by the time he enlisted in the Naval Reserve after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In November 1942, he was killed in a collision between two Navy planes, Nicholas said.
Afterward, Ms. Grace relocated with their four children, all under age 6, to the Beacon Hill home where she was raised. The family later moved to Cambridge.
Her sons said that even as a single mother of four young children, she balanced her life, which included a growing role on the boards of civic organizations, with seamless ease.
She was “a steady, strong, positive presence," John said. “She was astonishingly well-informed and well-read. She served as a kind of wonderful reference for us and steady presence in our lives."
Though generally reserved, Ms. Grace took a keen interest in issues and had no reservations about sharing her opinions. She also possessed a “genuine and sophisticated interest" in other people that was her most characteristic trait, Nicholas said. “She was very interested in people, their feelings, what they did, why they wanted to do it, and that sort of thing," he said.
Consequently, it came as no surprise to her children when she concentrated her studies at Radcliffe in psychology. During college, Ms. Grace shared classes with John and Nicholas, who were attending Harvard.
“We had a class in modern European history," Nicholas said. “She did better than me. I used to say it was because I had to study the subject, where she could remember it."
John and his mother sat together in a class called fine arts 13, which students nicknamed “darkness at noon" because the professor would turn off the lights and show slides for much of the class.
“I thought it was wonderful having her there, although a little daunting at first because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to match her academic performance," John said.
Ms. Grace graduated from Radcliffe in 1958 and went to Boston University, where she graduated in 1960 with a master’s in social work.
In 1961, Ms. Grace became the school psychologist at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, a place she loved because each of her children had attended it. She retired in 1975.
She devoted more time in retirement to Boston-area civic organizations, including the Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham and the League of Women Voters, according to John. She also volunteered to work with prisoners and, in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, lent assistance to a hospice group.
In 1996, she married the Rev. Gerald F. Gilmore, a retired Episcopalian minister who had been a student of her first husband. A widow for 54 years, she was 88 when they married; he was 81 (1996).
Given their age, instead of celebrating the date of their marriage every year, the couple made anniversaries a monthly occasion. They lived for a while in Cambridge before moving to Rev. Gilmore’s home on Cape Cod, where
they would gather their families.
Published in the Boston Globe
By Stephanie M. Peters Globe Correspondent January 02, 2012
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