Julia Potts Grehan

Julia Brooke Potts (“Happy”) Grehan, 91, born March 26, 1930, died November 6, 2021 in Mobile, Alabama. She is predeceased by her husband, Harold S. Grehan, Jr. Happy is survived by their two sons and four grandchildren, as well as four nieces and nephews, six grandnephews, one grandniece, eight great-grandnieces and two great-grandnephews. Her sons are Harold Hughes (“Hughes”) Grehan, and his wife Susan, of Phoenix, Arizona, and Brooke Yates Grehan, and his wife Jennifer, of Mobile, Alabama. Her grandchildren are Julia Murphy Grehan, Meredith Hughes Grehan, Sarah Elizabeth (“Ellie”) Grehan and Brooke Yates (“Yates”) Grehan, Jr. Her nieces are Susan Snodgrass Wynne and her husband John (“Dubby”) of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Julie Snodgrass Walker and her husband John of Richmond, Virginia. Her nephews are Geoffrey Powell Snodgrass and his wife Holly of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Llewellyn Powell Snodgrass and his wife Kit of Alexandria, Virginia. She is predeceased by her nephew Richard Lee Snodgrass of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and her grandnephew Lee Stribling Wynne of Virginia Beach, Virginia. She was also devoted to her friend Thelma Webster. Happy was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of the late Llewellyn Powell Potts and Julia Yates Wynkoop. She grew up in her family home “Popodicon” in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, with her late sister, Eleanor Potts Snodgrass, and late brother, Henry Potts. After graduating in 1948 from St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia, Happy attended Pembroke College in Brown University graduating in 1952. When Happy was 78, she earned a Masters of Liberal Arts degree, concentrating in Middle Eastern Studies, from Tulane University. After college, she and two friends toured the United States before starting their careers. Happy worked in Washington, D.C. for National Geographic Society Magazine and in New York City as a picture editor for American Heritage Magazine. While in New York, she met Harold and they were married at “Popodicon” in 1963. In 1965, they moved to Harold’s hometown of New Orleans where they lived until they moved to Mobile in 2011. Happy’s passion for travel continued throughout her life and she and Harold were able to visit numerous countries on five continents. In later years, she enjoyed taking her family on various trips in and outside the United States. In New Orleans, she worked as a real estate agent, owned a small art gallery, was a devoted art student at New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts and enjoyed playing tennis and golf. She was an active member of several organizations, including the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America and the Society of the Lees of Virginia. While in Mobile, she was an avid bridge player with friends and volunteered at Mary B. Austin Elementary school and Christ Church Cathedral.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, December 6, 2021, with visitation starting at 10:00 a.m. at LAKE LAWN METAIRIE FUNERAL HOME, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. (in Metairie Cemetery). Interment will be in Metairie Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Trinity Episcopal Church, 200 W. German Street, P.O. Box 308, Shepherdstown, West Virginia 25443.

The family invites you to share your thoughts, fond memories, and condolences online at www.lakelawnmetairie.com