M. Stuart Grace of Croton Falls, NY, passed away at home on Monday, September 30, 2024, at the age of 62. Stuart was born December 27, 1961, in Washington D.C. son of Michael Eden Grace of Raleigh, NC and the late Dixie Gray Lee. Stuart married Mary Pat Campbell in Raleigh, NC on October 14, 2000, and moved to Queens, NY. They moved to Croton Falls in 2007. Stuart worked as a Parish Secretary for the Archdiocese of NY before retiring in 2003. He was a member of St. Joseph’s Parish in Somers, a Parent leader of North Salem Farm Friends 4-H Club, and most of all was very involved with his children’s lives.
Besides his wife Mary Pat and father Mike, Stuart is survived by his four children; Heather Grace of Franklinton, NC, Chase Grace, Siobhan, and Diarmuid Grace, all of Croton Falls, NY; sisters Fran Puryear of Raleigh, NC, and Erin Daley of Knighdale, NC, and grandchildren Katelyn and Nathan Morin.
A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at St. Joseph’s Church in Somers, NY at 11:30 am. The interment will take place at a later date in St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church Memorial Gardens in Raleigh, NC. Calling hours will take place Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at Beecher Funeral Home, 1 Putnam Ave., Brewster, NY from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
The above is the standard obituary, of course. What will have been our 24th wedding anniversary is on October 14, 2024, and I will likely write more about him then.
On the Movember Foundation
I have been fundraising for the Movember Foundation since 2017, when Stuart was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. I donated to the cause before 2017, for my friends’ fundraisers each November.
For those new to STUMP, Stu is my husband (and I’m the MP portion).
I’m a life actuary, and I have loads of male friends. Prior to 2017, I had donated to my friends’ Movember fundraisers. In 2017, my huband was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. For his particular diagnosis, it’s treatable, but not curable.
I started my own fundraising in 2017, and as you can see from above, I’ve been pretty active since then. Stu had his own course of cancer treatments, and his cancer had been pretty under control until recently… it’s active again. One of these days, probably either his treatment or the cancer will kill him. We’re trying to push that as far out as possible.
Back in the day, he would have been dead years ago, as cancer as advanced as his was used to have a 5-year survival rate of 2%.
Cancer treatment has come a long way, but we can really help improve survival by promoting screening, treatment, and research.
I am still promoting the cause, of course. Prostate cancer is still a top cancer of men, and the Movember Foundation promotes screening, treatment, support, and research for prostate cancer and other men’s health concerns.
I had already opened my Movember page early on September 25, because I had gotten an email about doing so.
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