Happy Fathers Day!!!

I have always wished I would be asked to speak in church about my father. We have never been especially close. In fact at times we haven't even liked each other much, but in spite of our "issues" he has taught me so much. Perhaps some of it was not his intention, but never the less, I learned from him.

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever. ~Author Unknown

So, I would like to pay tribute to my father....

Neil James Grady

Born : April 10, 1913 in Alberta, Canada. Son of Leo Thomas O'Grady and Anna Madeline Sullivan. He grew up on a farm in Minnesota, where among other things, my grandfather raised flax, and operated a little general store that was owned by my great grandfather, Luke Thomas O'Grady.

Dad was an only child and born very early. I've heard stories about my grandmother making my dad a bed out of a cigar box and putting it in the warming oven part of a wood stove...to keep him warm. In those days, a baby that was born early like that, was just turned over to the parents and told "do what you can". My grandmother kept his skin moist and didn't pick him up much or play with him, wanting him to conserve his enery for staying alive. Obviously Dad grew up happy and healthy. This picture was taken when he was about a year old.

During his school years, he worked hard, learning everything his mind would soak up. During the last of his high school years, he earned a certificate in welding, and became quite accomplished at it. He learned quickly and was very adept at mechanical things also.


He went on to college, working his way through and paying his way with odd jobs, some of them welding and various other things. During his college years he learned about "midget racing" which became a passion. It defiantly was not my grandmothers passion, as she refused to attend any of his races.

He raced for a while with a few men that eventually became rather well known in the racing circut during those years. There are stories told about how they would take a regular car engine, cut it in half, and make an engine to put in their race cars. They worked hard, and raced hard.

I am not sure exactly how he went from racing to flying, but he hit flying with a vengance!!!!

He took a job at a place called Rankin Academy in San Jose, Calif, where pilots were trained for the Army. Dad trained some of these pilots. This is where he met my mother, who worked in
the control tower for the airport.



This is a picture of Dad and one of his classes. (Dad being on the far right. When he married my mother, he went on to fly for United Airlines as a co-pilot. That job required a lot of travel and with a family, it was difficult, so he left United.

Eventually, we ended up in Hathaway Pines, California, a small town of 152 people, at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and bought a small gas station. He was a very accomplished mechanic and we had people come from all around, to have him work on their cars. I loved it at Christmas time, because people would give my dad gifts and a lot of them were See's Candy. In those days, it was not nearly so expensive, so, we ended up with three or four three pound boxes!!!!

Once, for his birthday, my mom gave my dad an airplane ride at the local airport. It had been years since he had flown and his licenses had lapsed. He had commercial, multi-engine, and instructors ratings.

This well thought out birthday gift, again sparked my dads love of flying and he renewed his private pilots license, and went on to renew his commercial rating and his instructors rating....again, teaching greenies to fly. He also flew for parachuters who wanted to "jump". It was a joke with him, as to why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane!!!

He gave airplane rides at the local county fair (Jumping Frog Jubilee) after joining the Calaveras Flying Club. We lived for a long time, in Hathaway Pines, with my dad working hard at the gas station we owned, and my mom working as the postmistress at the tiny post office that was attached to the garage.

My fathers unspoken wish had always been to own his own airplane. He became part owner of the airplanes owned by the flying club, but that wasn't good enough so finally, after many years, he bought a small Cessna 172 which would hold four people.


He flew that for a long time, supplementing his income and helping to support the airplane, by giving rides, and to take people to various destinations.


After quite a few years flying small passenger planes, he realized another dream of his and that was to build his own airplane. He had done quite a bit of areobatics and wanted a plane he could "play" with. This is a picture of the beautiful result of, and all of the hard work it took to realize that dream....
Here you see "Lil Spook". A modified Starduster 1. He bought this plane from a man whose father had started it, then suddenly passed away. It was not even one half done. The man who started it was a lot taller than Dad so it became necessary to take apart what had been done, and lower the "turtle deck". Dad became a "certified airplane mechanic" for that particular plane, so he could build it himself, according to the strict regulations. Dad built this beautiful airplane from the ground up. It is a fabric covered plane and he even did the fabric himself.

I must tell you a little story about this picture. We were on our way to a small airshow and I was in the plane next to him. Our friend was taking the pictures of Dad. I was watching my dad fly his beloved little plane and for some reason looked away at something, then turned around to look at Dad again and saw the bottom of his plane!!!!!! He was flying upside down!!!!! He had said that he wanted to practice flying in formation, but I had no idea that he meant being upside down when he did it!!!!!


Here are some pictures of my dad later on in his life....



with my brother Dennis, his son Patrick and my dads great grandsons Aaron and Ryan.









Dad is now in an "assisted living facility. He is 95 years old and failing a little, but still teaching us all.

I guess what I would like to say is that although my dad and I were not "best buds" and probably still aren't.....he always worked hard to provide for his family and make sure we were safe, fed and clothed. He was so strong.

The thing I would most like to say about him and what I admire the most about him, is the fact that he was always willing to work hard to realize his dreams and to accomplish what he wanted in life. How many of us realize something that is a real dream. He taught me about the value of our time here on earth and what we can do with it if we want. He taught me that we can realize our dreams if we want to.

The dreams he had for himself, are different from the dreams that I have for myself, but he did teach me that I could get there. Anyone can get there.

When I was younger, I once said to him " I can't wait until tomorrow". His reply was "you are wishing your life away". I have never forgotten that.

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. ~Clarence Budington Kelland