Jean McGrath

Jean McGrath counted her family among her greatest interests. A mother of three, grandmother of nine, and great-grandmother of eight, she was a knitter, baker, and seamstress who enjoyed embroidery and loved to read.

Mrs. McGrath worked as a secretary at Windward Realty in East Hampton for nearly a decade and was an administrative assistant at the Stella Maris School in Sag Harbor for over 20 years.

She died at Southampton Hospital on Jan. 19 after an illness of several weeks. She was 89.

Mrs. McGrath was born on July 12, 1925, to Herbert Percival and Janet Isabel McKinnon in Brisbane, Australia, where she grew up.

On Oct. 30, 1943, she was married to Bart J. McGrath, who was stationed in Australia with the United States Army. After their marriage, he was posted to New Guinea, where he contracted malaria. He was sent home to New York for treatment, and his bride eventually joined him there in 1946.

The couple lived in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn from 1946 to 1948 and then in Rosedale, Queens, until 1982, when Mr. McGrath died. About a year later, Mrs. McGrath moved to East Hampton to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Janet and Frank McDermott. Her sons, Brian and Kevin McGrath, built her a house of her own a year later.

The McDermotts live in East Hampton. Brian McGrath lives in Bridgehampton, and Kevin McGrath is in Encinitas, Calif. Mrs. McGrath is also survived by her grandchildren and  great-grandchildren.

A service was held on Jan. 24 at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Sag Harbor. The Rev. Peter Devaraj officiated. Burial was at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery in East Hampton.

Memorial contributions have been suggested to the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association, 1 Cedar Street, East Hampton 11937.