The Shorewood Foundation has received a $10,000 gift from the estate of Grace Mahoney Graves, a former village resident and foundation board member who passed away in March. In keeping with her wishes, the gift will be used for initiatives in Atwater Park.
Grace Graves
It is not the first time the park has benefited from Grace’s generosity. The flagpole, which has stood sentinel there since the early 1990s, was erected to honor her late husband, William, with gifts from his family, friends and law firm colleagues.
“Atwater Park was and is a special place for our family,” said Grace’s daughter, Elizabeth Graves, who recalls countless hours with her family in the park and on the beach below. “And with our father’s memorial there, we want to ensure that it is cared for for years to come.”
“It’s humbling to receive any estate gift,” said Shorewood Foundation President Jamie Reeve. “But it is especially so when it comes from a former Foundation board member whose vision and legacy will now continue to benefit our village for decades to come.”
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, and raised in New York, Grace met her husband in New York where he was a young lawyer and she an executive assistant at the Macmillan publishing company. They lived in New York and Puerto Rico before moving in the early 1970s to Shorewood where they raised their two children, Elizabeth and William “Will” Graves.
Walking along the lakefront was a favorite pastime for Grace, though a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in her 40s would eventually curtail those treks, said longtime friends Diane Buck and Mary Stearns.
“We used to meet early in the mornings at the top of Shorewood Boulevard,” said Mary. “We’d walk to Lake Park and then hustle back to get the kids off to school.”
The trio were members of the Friday Ladies, a lunch group that still meets today.
A collector of vintage Haviland china, Grace founded the Haviland China Matching Service, LTD, in the 1970s to help clients find pieces of favorite discontinued china patterns. She loved going to rummage and estate sales alike, always on the hunt for Haviland.
Grace was one of the founding members of the Haviland Collectors International Foundation, a group dedicated to the study of porcelain and pottery by the Haviland family, and she helped start the Atwater Antiques Show when her children attended school there. She also worked on assembling a wonderful roster of collectors for Milwaukee’s Grain Exchange Antique Show.
When her kids attended Shorewood High School, she worked with other parents to launch The Underground, a vibrant rec department program at the school that offered a place for teens to gather on weekends. In addition, she served on the Shorewood Foundation in the 1990s alongside Diane Buck.
“She was a very quiet person, a great listener. But she certainly told you what she thought,” Diane said.
Grace moved to Milwaukee’s East Side in the 1990s where she continued her work in the decorative arts. She moved her business to the Third Ward and began as a volunteer for the Friends of Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, before becoming a board member for the Charles Allis and Villa Terrace Museums. She also served as a board member on the Transit Plus Advisory Council of Milwaukee, which has a mission to help advocate for people with disabilities and ensure quality transportation.
Grace served on the board of directors for the Charles Allis and Villa Terrace Museums and the Transit Plus Advisory Council until her death.