Joel McGrath, "," e-mail message from [e-mail for private use] ([street address for private use]), to , .

• Title	Joel McGrath, "," e-mail message from [e-mail for private use] ([street address for private use]), to , .
  Short Title	Simone Esnault McGrath Tribute from son Joel
  _BIBL	McGrath, Joel. "." E-mail message from [e-address, street address for private use]. .
  _SUBQ	McGrath, "," e-mail, .
  Source ID	S1028
  Text	After 99 years and 327 days, my mom, Simone Esnault McGrath passed away last night in her sleep. Born in Paris, France on March 18th 1918 toward the end of WW I she was a Parisian girl to her core and by any measure she lived a full and adventurous life. Her father was killed by a street car when she was young and she, her brother Albert and their memere scratched out a living in Porte d'Oleans in the 14th Arrondissement. She was a cross country champion in Paris and athletics were her life. In June 1940, the Nazi’s marched into Paris and thus began 4 years of occupation, rationing and working in factories in Paris. She recalled friends just disappearing never to be seen again. In August of 1944, she cheered with all her fellow citizens of Paris as the allied armies liberated Paris. Among those soldiers was a Sergeant named Michael "Micky" McGrath of the Army Air Corp. Soon after, they met in a dance hall in Paris, somehow fell in love despite neither speaking the others language and thus begun a lifelong love affair. The attached picture is from 1945 on the ile de Charentonneau on the Marne river near Paris. My dad was discharged and sent home but soon after he bought tickets for her to sail to Boston. They got married, moved to Charleston and she got a job at the Schrafft's candy factory. My brother John was born in 1947 and I was born in 1952. We moved to Woburn soon after because my mom was afraid of all the rats, cockroaches and drunks in the Charlestown tenements near the shipyards. We traveled everywhere in France and Europe with uncles, aunts, cousins and a collection of friends and families. Over the years I quickly estimated that my mom visited over 60 counties in her lifetime and she continued even after my dad passed in 1980. At a shade over 5ft tall, she was a force of nature and made friends all over the world. She was truly one of a kind. After years of running, race walking and other sporting events, her deteriorating mobility finally got the best of her and she left in peace. She lived her life on HER terms and she left it the same way. With all our heart and soul, my brother John and I will miss her and love her dearly. Bon huit Memere!
  Linked to	Simone Blanche ESNAULT