Mary Grady Burnette Koonce, 83, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on April 25, 2018 in Raleigh following a brief illness. Mary Grady was born in Raleigh on January 4, 1935, the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. James Grady Burnette (Mary Myrtle Stanley). She cherished her parents as well as her childhood family home and surrounding land.
Mary Grady graduated in 1954 from Saint Mary's School in Raleigh and received a degree in Journalism in 1956 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. She worked in public relations for Meredith College and then at the Raleigh Times as a court reporter. In 1957, she won the North Carolina Press Women First Place Award. She also received the Tar Heel Writers Roundtable First Place prize for juvenile fiction. Mary Grady enjoyed freelancing as a journalist, writing short stories, and poetry.
Mary Grady was actively involved in her community. She was a North Carolina Museum of Art docent, Bal de Mer Co-Chair, Treasurer of the Guild; and also Saint Mary's School Parents' Council Vice Chair and Vice President of the Friends of the Library. She was a member of the Raleigh Fine Arts Guild, the Junior League of Raleigh, Hayes Barton United Methodist Church Chancel Committee, and NC Museum of History Associates Wake County Committee.
Mary Grady was an avid reader and loved the outdoors, bird watching, her backyard flowers, her Westies, traveling, great restaurants, as well as her cottage at Atlantic Beach and her family land in the countryside. Mary Grady enjoyed playing tennis and was a starter on her high school's all-state basketball team. She was a wonderful, graceful, and kind wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, and friend who loved time with her children and grandchildren.
She was predeceased in 1991 by her husband, Calvin Battle Koonce.
She is survived by her daughter, Mary Grady Koonce Bell (husband, Victor Eros Bell III) and her son, Calvin Battle Koonce, Jr. (wife, Kathryn Noah Koonce) - all of Raleigh. She is also survived by three grandchildren: Mary Grady Burnette Bell, Calvin Battle Koonce III, and Caroline Batchelor Koonce.
A private graveside service will be at Oakwood Cemetery. A memorial service at Hayes Barton United Methodist Church will be held at 2:00 pm on Sunday April 29, followed by a reception at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Hayes Barton United Methodist Church, Saint Mary's School, UNC School of Journalism, or the charity of one's choice.
Arrangements by Brown-Wynne, Saint Mary's St., Raleigh, NC.
