Grace Thurston, 96, Vero Beach
Grace (nee Mainolfi) Thurston, 96, of Vero Beach, passed peacefully on Oct. 10, 2019, surrounded by loved ones.
Her thirst for being productive started at a young age when she’d earned change by doing small jobs and picking berries for neighbors.
Her first real job was coloring in drawings for comic books at a publishing company. During the war, she operated a fork lift at a manufacturing business. It was during this period she also met and married her dedicated husband, Lee.
Grace was known for telling her children, “I should never have had kids; I would have been a great businesswoman.”
Despite us, she was a very good businesswoman. After giving birth to her three little impediments, she went on to own and operate Old Orchard Antiques participating in many prestigious antique shows including the annual Madison Square Garden event.
She managed the blueberry orchard on our farm. She sold berries to local stores and terrorized customers who came to pick their own (she was very strict about bushes being picked clean).
Nicknamed “the doodle bug” by one of her good friends, Grace was never one to sit still. She was a masterful seamstress making our Easter outfits, summer clothes and prom gowns.
For a number of years she entered the Pillsbury Bake-Off with delicious concoctions only to be dejected when she didn’t win.
She had no qualms about painting a two-story house, building a brick outdoor grill or driving from Connecticut to Florida on her own.
She was a dreamer and a doer. Once her daughter called her and found her out of breath. She said she was up on the roof cleaning the gutters. After her daughter convinced her that she was 80 she replied, “I’m 80? What the hell am I doing on the roof?”
We made her turn in her license at 90 and she never forgave us for it. She remained interested in politics, playing dice and cards and meeting new people until the last days of her life.
She is predeceased by her husband, Leon Thurston, Jr.; daughter, Lynn Futschik; great-granddaughter, Lauren Hicks; and a great-grandson, Aidan Steinbrecher.
She will be missed always by her daughter, Laura Thornton, of Southington, Conn.; her son, Lee Thurston, of Port St. Lucie, Fla.; her former daughter-in-law, Deborah Thurston, of Vero Beach; her son-in-law, Joseph Futschik, of Ansonia, Conn.; her grandchildren, Joe Futschik, Leah Futschik, Kara Futschik Hicks, Michael Futschik, Christopher Futschik, Megan Thornton, Matt Thornton (Karen Stevenson), Karen Hansen, Jennifer Steinbrecher, Carmella Ray (Jordan), Mary Luecht (Josh), Leon Thurston, and Anthony Thurston (Kayla). She also leaves behind 11 great-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass will be held Nov. 4, 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church in Derby, Conn.
For those considering memorial gifts, her wish is that they be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at stjude.org.