Grace Louise O’Loughlin, 89, of Vero Beach, passed away peacefully at the VNA Hospice of the Treasure Coast, on Dec. 23, 2015, after a brief illness.
She is survived by her two children, Patricia Anne O’Loughlin Erickson (Mrs. Jesse R. Erickson) of Atlanta, Ga., and James Parker O’Loughlin of Houston, Texas, along with one granddaughter, Devon Louise Erickson, also of Atlanta, Ga.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 57 years, Maurice Edwin James O’Loughlin.
O’Loughlin was born on Feb. 11, 1926, in Wingham, Ontario, Canada. She was the second daughter to Dr. Frederick Arthur Parker and Norma Gee Parker.
She attended Wingham public schools where she excelled in the sciences, while also studying piano and voice. She had a beautiful singing voice and sang weekly in the church choir and on the local radio. She also excelled athletically by winning many field day trophies, while also enjoying ice skating and cross country skiing.
During high school, O’Loughlin spent summers supporting the Canadian WWII effort by working in the Canadian Farm Service Camp Program, which worked to fill labor spots left vacant by young men who enlisted. She, along with other young women, worked the fields by picking vegetables and fruit, and by leaning, sorting and packaging produce to keep the Canadian war economy buoyant.
Following high school, she enrolled in an accelerated war time medical technology program at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where she earned a certificate in medical technology, a new field at the time. War time medical personnel were in short supply and she quickly earned an internship at Ontario’s Simcoe County Hospital, which later lead to a permanent position at Toronto General Hospital. But it was her acceptance of a position in the medical department at Imperial Oil Company that lead her to meet her future husband, Maurice “Morey” E. J. O’Loughlin, a young chemical engineer.
She and Morey married on Oct. 20, 1951, and subsequently had two children, Patricia Anne and James Parker.
Through her medical activities and as a newlywed, she contracted polio (before the vaccine), effecting her legs and mobility. She recovered well with determination and with the unconventional remedies advised by her father, an osteopathic physician.
O’Loughlin was a consummate planner and organizer, and supported her husband’s international business career with Imperial Oil, Standard Oil of New Jersey, Esso Eastern and the Exxon Corporation, including the orchestration of nine long distance household moves, which took the family to four Canadian provinces (Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia) followed by moves to Washington, D.C, Westport and Greenwich, Conn., Houston, Texas and finally Florida.
She accompanied her husband on many domestic and international trips and events, which included a state dinner at the White House during Gerald Ford’s presidency.
While in Westport, she volunteered at the Bedford Junior High School second hand store, the Pin Money Shop, which funded various school programs.
O’Loughlin might be remembered most as an accomplished gardener, talented artist, animal lover, collector and historian, having researched and produced volumes of family genealogical data. She (and Morey) made numerous trips to Ireland to find missing dates and family connections, before she and Morey retired to John’s Island.
She was a 22 year resident of John’s Island and a member of the John’s Island Club.
At the request of the family, there will be no service. She will be interred next to her beloved husband at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery, in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to PXE International or the VNA of the Treasure Coast, Vero Beach.
Online condolences may be made at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.