John S. GRADY

GRADY, OSTENDORF

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 3/25/2014 at 14:50:46

September 11, 1918 --- May 17, 2013

Meservey — John S. Grady passed away at Loma Linda Medical Center on May 17, 2013. Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on September 11, 1918, John was the second son of Charles Dudley and Beatrice Grady. In 1924 he moved to Keene, Texas, where he graduated from Southwestern Junior College, which later became Southwestern University. Prior to his induction into the Army in February 1942, John served as a postal clerk in Keene where his father was postmaster. Following his basic training at Fort Walter in Texas he attended and graduated from Officers Candidate School at Camp Davis, North Carolina, as first lieutenant and was assigned to Battery G, 532nd Separate Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, Fort Bliss, Texas. In February 1943 his unit was shipped from New York to a staging area in Casablanca, North Africa. Once the North African campaign was over he was then transferred to Italy, landing in Naples. From there his unit went to Venafro, Italy, where they protected airfields until reassignment to the 36th Division which supported the 143rd Infantry Regiment in their attempt to cross the Rapido River near Cassino. After this action he was directed to provide air protection for a battalion of self-propelled 105 artillery howitzers, which ultimately ended up in the city of Rome. After Rome was declared an “open city,” he was moved to Monecatini, where the unit was converted to infantry to be known as the 2nd Battalion of the 473rd Infantry Regiment, and John was promoted to captain. During this time there were several engagements with the Germans and he eventually found himself in Genova. When the war in Europe ended he was transferred to the 88th Division which administered a Prisoner of War Camp in Brescia until the war in Japan ended.

Returning to the U.S.A., John’s first jobs were as a conductor with the Pullman Company, a Yellow Car (streetcar) operator in Los Angeles and then he moved his family to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to accept a job as a Security Inspector with the Atomic Energy Agency. In 1954, John took a position with the Phillips Petroleum Company at their rocket production facility in McGregor, Texas, where he became a safety inspector and he also met his future wife, Wanda Lou Ostendorf, daughter of Enno and Irene Ostendorf of Meservey, Iowa. John and Wanda were married September 9, 1955. From this point on it was all about rockets and family. Through the years, John worked in Sacramento, California, for Aerojet-General Corp as a Quality Control Analyst and Safety Engineer for the Polaris missile program, and in 1967 when Aerojet lost the missile contract for Polaris, Lockheed Propulsion Co. received new contracts, including one for solid rocket motors for the Apollo project and the family moved to Redlands, California, to stay. In 1972 John accepted a job at Covington Engineering Corp., from which he retired in 1998. During his time in Redlands he became a member of the American Legion and Elks Lodge where he enjoyed playing cards.

John is survived by three sons: Jay Grady, James (Jim) and wife Diane Grady and Jerry Grady, and his granddaughter Lauren Grady, all from California. Funeral service has been scheduled for Thursday, July 12, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. at the Retz Funeral Home, Meservey. Interment will be in the Meservey Cemetery next to his loving wife, Wanda. Visitation will be one hour before the service at the funeral home.