Page Modified: February 09, 2014

Catherine “Kate” Rochford O’Grady
(daughter of Michael and Elizabeth McCabe)
5 September 1880, Liecester, England - 11 October 1955, Edgewood, Pittsburg, PA
Married Henry “Harry” O’Grady about 1910, Leicester  b: 15 Nov
1880, Leicester, England  d: 2 Jun 1970, Pittsburg, Allegheny, Pennsylvania

Henry “Pat” O’Grady b: 16 Jan 1912, Pennsylvania d: 14 Jan 1969, Pennsylvania
John Rochford O’Grady b: 3 Sep 1914, Turtle Creek, PY d: 1 Jan 1993, Pittsburg, PA
Mary Alice O’Grady  b: 25 January 1917 in Pennsylvania  d: 1 December 2010
Catherine Ann “Kitty” O’Grady b: Dec 10 1919 in Pennsylvania  d: Jan 6 2014 in Portsmouth, VA
Betty O’Grady b: 27 Apr 1921, Pennysylvania  d: Aug 1982, Columbus, Indiana

Click here to view a detailed list of Catherine and Henry O’Grady’s descendants.

By Mary Pat O’Grady Soltis

Looking back over the years, I can remember stories about when grandmother came to America. She came as a bride of Henry O’Grady. When my father was two years old, she took him back to England for a visit.

In the ensuing years she had four more children. She was never able to go home again. I can imagine how she felt to be so far away from her family, especially when her parents died.

Grandfather worked at the Westinghouse in Turtle Creek and they built a house there in the Electric Plane. Later they built a larger house in Swissvale, 7508 Roslyn Street. The O’Grady’s were fortunate to be able to keep their home during the depression. Grandmother raised a beautiful family. They often called her “Katie” as a nick name. We all spent many happy times together at that home.

My grandmother was an intelligent and gracious lady. Her English was impeccable. She would correct us for using wrong grammar. All of us love to read and enjoy classical music because of her influence. Some of her favourite sayings were: “If you don’t respect yourself, no one else will”; “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are”; “Strive for excellence”; and her motto was: “Anyone can say they love you, it’s those who show you by deed”. She was our moral compass, a devout Catholic. I can still remember the globe of the “Little Flower” St. Theresa she brought back from Canada.

We always said: “She was a woman before her time”. We were so very blessed to be part of her life. We all knew by her actions she loved us. Grandmother was the epitome of all that is good. Catherine Rochford O’Grady was an English Lady who made this country a better place by her mere existence.

From Kathleen Perrault’s Reminiscences, 1979

In 1910 and at the age of thirty, George’s sister Catherine “Kate” (2) received a proposal from Harry O’Grady, a childhood friend. He was the brother of Kate’s brother Joseph’s wife (Anne O’Grady.) He would pay for her passage to Pittsburgh, where they would be married immediately on her arrival. Her reply: “If you want me, come and get me. I am not chasing after any man.” He did just that, and they spent their life in Pittsburgh, raising five children, Harry, John, Mary Alice, Catherine, and Betty.

The following are pictures of Catherine Ann “Kitty” O’Grady Gribok, daughter of Catherine Rochford and Henry O’Grady

Catherine Gribok and Mary Alice Border 1994

Catherine Gribok around 2003