Katherine (Hale) Grant -- Portsmouth

Katherine Hale Grant, 98, passed away on Sunday, July 19, 2009. She was born in Newport in 1910 and spent her entire life here as a nurse, mother and community volunteer.

She attended Coggeshall Elementary School and Rogers High School prior to enrolling in the Newport Hospital School of Nursing. She became a Registered Nurse in 1931 and remained in that profession until 1974. In those 43 years, she served in various positions at Newport Hospital including pediatrics, employee health and obstetrics. She also provided nursing assistance in the homes of those who needed aid while recovering from illness or injury, as well as hospice care. She was a proud alumna of the Newport Hospital Nurses Association.

She married John Howard Grant in 1938 and joined him in a series of adventures as he became a chauffer for Commodore and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt and later Superintendent of the Vanderbilt estate at “Beaulieu”, Bellevue Avenue. In the mid-1950s, they moved to “Moorland Farm”, the John Barry Ryan estate on Hammersmith Road in Newport.

In later years, she was an active participant in a number of community efforts such as the Newport Meals on Wheels program, and she also volunteered at the hospital in Naples, Florida when she lived there during the winter. In her retirement years, she became an avid fan of handicrafts, including painting and knitting.

Mrs. Grant is survived by her son James Grant of Fairfax Station, Virginia; her daughter Kathleen Leonard of Cumberland, R.I.; her son John Howard Grant, Jr. of Newport, R.I; and her son Thomas Grant, of Beverly, Massachusetts. She has nine grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, and a large number of nieces and nephews. Katherine was preceded in death by many of those she loved dearly, including her husband, Howard; her sister, Helen; her granddaughter, Shelly; and her daughter in law, Cheryl.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 9:00 AM on Friday, July 24th at Saint Mary’s Church on Spring Street, Newport. Burial will follow at St. Columba\'s Cemetery in Middletown, RI. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, July 23rd from 4-7 PM at the O’Neill-Hayes Funeral Home, 465 Spring Street, Newport, RI.
Memorial donations may be made in her name to the Seamen’s Church Institute, 18 Market Square, Newport, RI 02840.

For more information, please visit www.onhfh.com

Reported: 07/21/09 (Show all obituaries for this day)

By: O'Neill-Hayes Funeral Home (Show all obituaries and information about this funeral home)

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