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Obituary: Grace Hammond, 1923-2017

Grace Hammond
Courtesy Photo |

Grace Hammond was born May 5, 1923 in Round Pond, Ark., to James and Bessie Herrod. She grew up in Forrest City and graduated from Forrest City High School as the valedictorian of her class. She married Ed Hammond in 1946, and they had four children: Eddie, Cathy, Gary and Amy. They spent 38 years in Memphis, Tenn., and moved to Grand County in 1986.

Grace and Ed were very active in Grand County. Grace was a member of the Church of the Eternal Hills, the IE chapter of PEO, Grand County Quilters and Grand County Historical Association. She was in the local writers group and had a number of her stories published in “Rough-Writers, INK.” She volunteered at the Fraser Valley Library for 18 years and was honored as their Volunteer of the Year in 2009.

Grace, known to many as Gracie, was friendly, outgoing and fun loving. She liked to think of herself as a “pioneer woman” and prided herself on her independence. She is survived by Cathy Costello and her husband Bob, Gary Hammond and his wife Trisha and Amy Persyn, along with grandsons, Michael Hammond (Cody) and Scott Hammond (Lindee) and granddaughters Erin Costello Nilon (Mike), Kelly Costello Ireson (Mike), Katie Persyn Winters (Mike), Laurie Persyn Giuliani (Simone) and Marcie Persyn. Great grandchildren include Graelyn, Elcie and Margot Nilon, Palmer and Finn Hammond and Adeline Hammond.



Grace passed away peacefully in her sleep on Jan. 13 at the Haven Hospice Care Center in Gainesville, Florida. She was preceded in death by her husband Ed, her son Eddie, and her son-in-law Bryan Persyn. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Church of the Eternal Hills in Tabernash on Saturday, July 22, 2017 at 11 a.m. with a reception following in the fellowship hall.



In memory of Grace, donations may be made to the Eddie Hammond, Jr. Memorial Endowment at the University of Tennessee Martin by going to http://www.utm.edu.


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