Remembering a Remarkable Grandparent

Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade, founder of Grandparents Day, has passed away at the age of 91

Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade, the West Virginia housewife whose crusade to honor grandparents resulted in the creation of Grandparents Day, has died. She was 91. Tyree Funeral Home in Oak Hill, West Va., confirmed to the Associated Press that McQuade died Sept. 26 at Hilltop Center, a nursing home in Hilltop, West Va.

McQuade founded the holiday after thinking of a way to honor the senior citizens with whom she had worked for many years. Her original idea for the holiday was not only to recognize grandparents but also to call attention to the needs of people living in nursing homes.

She began her campaign locally in 1970, eventually drawing the attention of U.S. Senator Jennings Randolph (D., W. Va.), who lobbied Gov. Arch Moore to establish a statewide day for grandparents. Moore did just that in 1973, the same year Randolph introduced a Grandparents Day resolution in Congress.

Randolph's resolution bounced around both houses of Congress with no action for several years, until McQuade and her supporters turned to the media for help with their efforts. The added pressure paid off, and in 1978 Congress passed legislation declaring the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. Carter signed his proclamation on Sept. 6, 1979, and the first Grandparents Day was celebrated three days later.

In 1989, in recognition of the holiday's 10th anniversary, the U.S. Postal Service honored McQuade, with a stamp bearing her likeness. McQuade,the mother of 15, the grandmother of 43, and the great-grandmother of 10 was predeceased by her husband. She also served as vice chairwoman of the State's Department of the Aging.

In the proclamation, Carter wrote that because grandparents "are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations."

Today, though, an increasing number of grandparents have actually assumed daily responsibility for their grandchildren. According to AARP, 4.5 million children are being raised in households headed by grandparents. For those kids and millions of others, grandparents create special relationships and impart lessons that last a lifetime. As Carter wrote, "Grandparents are our continuing tie to the near-past, to the events and beliefs and experiences that so strongly affect our lives and the world around us."