Catherine "Kay" McGrath, 87, Founder of Mercer Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction

Catherine "Kay" McGrath, 87, of Princeton died peacefully on Thursday, Dec. 1 at Princeton Hospital after a brief illness.

She was born and raised in Boston, where her father, an Irish emigre, worked as a cement finisher and as an active labor leader, serving as the business agent for the American Brotherhood of Cement and Asphalt Workers. Kay graduated from Boston University.

She was the founder and, for more than 20 years, the executive director of the Mercer Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, building the council with a $5,000 bank loan, the use of a borrowed brownstone in Trenton and only herself on the staff to a county-wide organization with more than 50 employees and million dollar budgets. She also served on the Governor's Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and was founding director and past president of the Alliance of Councils on Alcoholism, a statewide prevention network. She was an active member of the League of Women Voters and a lobbyist for the Retail Merchants Association.

In 1997, she served on the original Princeton Consolidation Study Commission, which studied and ultimately recommended the consolidation of Princeton Township and Princeton Borough. She lived in Princeton for 52 years.

She was a regular guest columnist for The Times of Trenton and the host of a weekly radio program, "The Many Faces of Life" on WDVR. She was a recipient of the Princeton YWCA’s “Tribute to Women in Industry” (TWIN) Award for leadership abilities, the Executive Service Award from the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, the Mary Mulholland “Volunteer of the Year Award” from the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and the Market Leaders Award from the Times of Trenton.

She was a loving wife and mother. She was married to the late Thomas J. McGrath for 53 years. She is survived by her son Brian McGrath and his wife Dr. Carmen Paradis of Chagrin Falls, Ohio; daughter Maureen McGrath of Princeton; son Richard McGrath of Washington, D.C.; daughter Carol McGrath and her husband Alan Wood of Pennington; son Neal McGrath and his wife Jeong-Ju Ahn, and granddaughter Maura McGrath of Hong Kong.

A mass of Christian burial was held at Saint Paul’s Church on Dec. 7. Burial will be in Princeton Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Mercer Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, 447 Bellevue Avenue, Trenton, NJ 08618