Harry Francis Grady was born February 10, 1925 to Earle and Mary (Armstrong) Grady, who were living in Hamilton. The Armstrong family owned the Armstrong grocery store in Orono where Grady and his brothers often worked over the summer vacation, staying with their grandmother in the village.
At 17 years of age, in 1942, Gray enlisted with the Royal Canadian Navy. Due to his age he was accepted for training, but not active duty. Training occurred in Halifax, where decommissioned American warships were used as training vessels which provided hands-on instruction and training. After his training was complete, and after turning 18 years of age, he was assigned to one the warships escorting convoys across the Atlantic, serving as protection against German U-Boats.
He served on a Corvette which was the man Canadian escort warship at the time, a highly nimble and manoeuvrable vessel. For two years, Grady remained in this role.
Following the war, Grady joined his brother looking after their grandparent’s farm property near Orono, before joining the Ontario Provincial Police, where he was stationed in Nipigon. In 1951, he married Lorraine Sandberg and they together had two children.
He eventually moved his family to British Columbia where he took employment with the BC Department of Corrections.
He passed away in May, 2000 at the age of 75. The banner in honour of Harry Grady is sponsored by Kerry Gray, and joins the three banners honouring his three brothers.
We remember these men of Orono this Remembrance Day and every day.
We are grateful for the files supplied to us by Doug MacCheyne.
Courtesy of the Orono Weekly Times with special credit to Carol-Ann Oster
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