Matthew Israel Grass

Matt was born in Philadelphia, and graduated high school in Wilmington, DE. He attended Temple University and was drafted to the Army in 1951. He was a radio operator on Okinawa, during the Korean War. Returning to the US in 1954, he completed his bachelors degree at Temple, and worked in advertising and writing. He lived in New York City for a year, trying his hand at the great American novel; he published a story “The Snake in the Closet” in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine. Moving to Baltimore MD around 1960, he worked for the federal government at the Social Security Administration and then Health, Education and Welfare. During this time he met Eleanor Tucker and they were married in 1963. They moved to Washington, DC in 1966 and had a son, Gregory, in 1968. They moved to Miami, FL in 1974 so Matt could obtain a Masters in Public Health. In the late 1970’s he managed communications for the opening of new Community Health Centers across the USA. Gregory had a collection of pennants on his bedroom wall from over 25 states which Matt brought from his travels. Matt staffed the Cabinet Secretary, Joseph Califano, during opening events for the new health centers.

In 1981 he retired from the federal government and then sold real estate for the next thirty years. In the early 1980’s he and Eleanor were divorced and he later married Nancy Harris Goldstein in 1985. Nancy and Matt were happy together in DC and at a weekend home in Gettysburg, PA for 20 years. Nancy was a talented artist and also worked for FEMA. Nancy died of cancer in 2003. About a year later he met Michele Herzog, and together they moved to Sarasota, FL in 2010. While they parted ways in 2014, their friendship endured.

Matt’s hobbies included collecting and selling antique pottery and fine china. He had a dry and ironic sense of humor. In later years he would quip “Getting old sucks, but it sure beats the alternative.”

Matt is survived by his son Gregory Grass of Washington, DC.

Memorial donations in memory of Matt Grass may be made to Planned Parenthood.