Grace, Our Grandmother

Our stubbornly independent paternal grandmother, Grace, was born in the last years of the 19th century, into a family of comfortable means living on beautiful Washington Square in New York City. One of eight girls and one boy (her beloved brother, Worthington (aka “Waddy”), she was always a restless child who felt greatly confined by the strict rules of upbringing to which young ladies of that era were expected to adhere.

When Grace was 16, her parents decided to leave the bustle of New York City to raise their large brood in the healthier and quieter confines of Clifton, NJ. Located high above the Hudson River along the Palisades, it was a move that many families were making to escape pre-WWI New York City, to what in the later part of the century would be called “the suburbs”.

It was at this point that Grace made one of the first groundbreaking decisions of her life. Determined not to leave New York City, she ran off and married our grandfather, an exceptionally good-looking young man only a year or two older than she. She never looked back!

She and her husband continued to live in New York City, where after a few years they would start their family of three boys, the youngest of whom was our father.

Ever restless, and not content to live out her days as “just a housewife”, as soon as all the boys were in school, she went out and got a job at the Irving Trust Company in lower Manhattan until the Crash of 1929, followed by a career in the rough and tumble of New York City politics. Again, ground breaking decisions.

All the while, she and our paternal grandfather were raising their boys, providing them with great classical educations and a full life. Each boy would go on to succeed not only in life, but also to excell in a number of sports.

It was during these years of the Great Depression that Grace would again make a groundbreaking decision and a very shrewd investment, purchasing 8 parcels of land in a small shore community on the southern shore of Long Island called Point Lookout. As they reached adulthood, they received 2 of these parcels, each of which would accumulate in value many many times over during the years following.

So, it was our paternal grandmother, Grace, along with her very understanding husband, who created the platform for her sons’ subsequent success in the world; making sure they were not only well educated, but also had the necessary work ethic and gut instincts to help them achieve that. All three of her boys would eventually work for Pan American World Airways, with our father and his eldest brother making it their life’s career; both pioneers of transAtlantic travel, helping America connect with the rest of the world in the post WWII era. …But that is another story.

Today, the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of Grace’s three boys, continue to share these traits… always ready for the next challenge.

Like our grandmother, the Mini and Maxi Pochettes identify with a strong upstanding approach to life’s challenges, yet with a classic and timeless look.