Barbara Mae (Knapp) Grace

Barbara Mae Grace passed away surrounded by family on November 7, 2020 at her home in York Harbor, Maine.

She was born on December 1, 1938 to Allen and Eleanor Knapp in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in Eatontown, New Jersey with her older brother Richard.  She attended Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, graduating in 1961 with a B.A. in English.  After meeting Patrick W. Grace at Drew, they married in 1965.  Their daughter Miranda was born in 1966.  Before moving to York in 1970, they spent a summer on the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Lewis, Delaware.  Their son Patrick Allen Grace was born in 1973.

Barbara was an avid history buff, enjoying her 20 plus years teaching in the Living History program of the York Historical Society.  This involved wearing colonial costume and teaching hearth cooking to York 5th graders.  She was also a docent at the Emerson Wilcox House, Elizabeth Perkins House and Old Goal in York.  She also volunteered at the Strawberry Banke museum in the archaeology department.

Bird watching was a passion.  For 40 plus years she and Patrick counted birds for the annual breeding bird survey of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  

Her family will miss her excellent cooking, homemade bread and birthday cakes, always from scratch.  Gardening was another beloved hobby.  Many hours were spent planting bulbs the deer would later eat in spring.  She was a master crossword puzzle solver and took yoga before it was in vogue.  Knitting and sewing were other pursuits she enjoyed. 

Barbara was a generous donor to conservation and wildlife causes.

Camping in Cobscook State Park, Maine was an annual trip she looked forward to.

As a lover of all things Anglophile, she treasured the trips she took to England and Ireland.

She is survived by her husband Patrick William Grace, daughter Miranda and her husband Sean Ryan, son Patrick Allen Grace, and nephew Joel Knapp.

The family would like to thank her caregiver Sue Bennett and all the staff at York Hospital Home Care and York Hospital Hospice Care.

In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to the National Audubon Society or your local animal shelter.

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