Katherine Drab

Born in New York City, September 15, 1917

Grandma was born on September 15, 1917 at Bellevue Hospital in New York City just when the influenza pandemic of 1918 was hitting its shores.  To prevent the spread of infection, New York City quarantined all newborns and their mothers on ferries anchored in the East River.This is where Grandma spent the first few weeks of her life.She grew up in the Bronx and was the second of four children born to her father, John, a painter, and mother, Anne, a maid.Her father restored paintings for private museums in the city and on Sunday afternoons Grandma, in her best dress and with a big bow in her hair, would go with him to visit the museums.It was on these excursions that she developed her lifelong appreciation for art and beauty.

Grandma had beautiful big dimples.  When she was little, the boys in the neighborhood taunted her by chanting, “Kate’s got holes in her face.”She ran home upset to her mother.  Her mother told her "those aren't holes in your face, that is where the angels kissed you."Next time the boys started up, she told them what her mother said.

Grandma loved to read and joined the poetry club at her school. When they read Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem, Happy Thought, with the line, “The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings,” My grandmother startled the teacher by saying, “Being a female it would seem that I should be as happy as a queen.”

After Grandma graduated from high school, she worked in the office of Helena Rubenstein Cosmetics. She and her career girlfriends, dubbed the “Whipper Uppers,” would dress up in the latest fashions and hair-dos and explore Manhattan.Grandma met Grandpa through a co-worker in her office. They got married in 1948 and had four children. The last two were twins, a delightful surprise.

Grandma’s world expanded when she started working at Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation in 1964 as an assistant in the international division where she sent retired air force pilots around the world to train pilots. This work stimulated her interest in learning about different cultures and prompted her study of Spanish and Farzi. One of the highlights of her life was flying to England for her son’s wedding and exploring the English and Scottish countryside.Another highlight and great pride for Grandma was her younger sister, Patricia, a Dominican nun who spent her career as a missionary in Pakistan.

Grandma and Grandpa lived in Hicksville, NY for almost 30 years and then moved to Laguna Beach, CA.Together they shared a wonderful life of 53 years.

Grandma was a great storyteller and giant lover of life who saw the best in everything and everyone. She was the first to offer help and to make others feel good.In reflecting on her life,

Grandma would probably raise her glass and repeat her famous quote, “My compliments to the chef.”

Honored by Heather E. Marlow