Grace Olive (George) Hedgpeth, 90, of Phoenix passed away Friday, August 9th, 2019 after a long battle with dementia. She was born on September 3, 1928 in the home of her parents, Clay & Ruby George. Grace graduated from Phoenix Union High School in 1947, earned her Associates of Arts Degree from Phoenix College in 1966, her Masters of Education in Special Education from ASU in 1967, followed by her Bachelor of Arts in 1971.
She loved dogs, children, teaching and reading to her grandchildren. One of her grandkids recently shared this fond memory, “ I remember when I was little she used to read to me and my favorite was always The Monster at the End of This Book. It was Grover from Sesame Street and he was trying desperately to stop us from getting to the end of the book. He nailed pages together and built brick walls and grandma and I would pretend it made it more difficult to turn each page and Grover was getting mad at us because there was a monster at the end of the book. Then we finally got to the end and (spoiler) the monster was sweet lovable old Grover. Grandma would hug me as she read the last page.”
Grace taught at Union Elementary School District #62 from 1970 until she retired in 1989. After her retirement she enjoyed painting, traveling, and walking with her sister, Dolly in their walking club. She was married to Elmer Hedgpeth from 1947 until their divorce in 1981. She is survived by her children Ella, Ev, and Jay; her sister Thelma; her grandchildren, Ginger, April, Sherri, Luke, Jason, and Daniel; her great grandchildren, R.J., Breezy, Hannah, JJ, Zac, Savannah, and Alyssa.
A memorial service will be at Greenwood Memory Lawn Mortuary at 719 N 27th Ave in Phoenix, in the serenity chapel in the northeast corner of the property, followed by a graveside service at Greenwood Memory Lawn In lieu of flowers, please read a book to a child.
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