Neota Fowles Grady (1909-2000)

From the Bangor Daily News, October 25, 1941.

   Joining an all-to-short list of strangely named female political figures, Neota Fowles Grady is the first in a monthlong series of profiles centering on members of the Maine state legislature. Long a leader in Maine education circles, Grady began teaching school in the late 1920s, and in 1939 was elected to the Maine Teacher's Association Committee. This post was followed by service on the State Certification Committee, the presidency of the Maine Department of Classroom Teachers, and was the president of the Kennebec Retired Teacher Association. On the political front, Grady served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives from Lincoln County, and was Whitefield town treasurer. A lifelong Maine resident, Neota Ann Fowles was the daughter of George Ervin (1874-1923) and Minnie Dow Fowles (1876-1947).

  Fowles' early education was obtained at a school in Kings Mills, and later attended the Whitefield High School. A graduate of the Cony High School in 1925, Fowles went on to enroll at the Farmington Normal School, graduating in 1927. That same year she embarked on a teaching career that extended nearly forty years, teaching in schools at Kings Mills, Whitefield, and Carleton. From 1936-1937 she briefly taught at the Windsor and South Windsor schools located in Kennebec County.

  Active in Republican politics in Lincoln County, Fowles served as president of the Lincoln County Branch of Republican Women in the mid-1930s, and in July 1935 was named to its finance committee. She also held seats on both the Board of Governors of the Women's Republican Clubs of Maine and the Whitefield Republican town committee. In the summer of 1938 she announced her candidacy for the Maine House of Representatives from Lincoln County, and in August spoke at a meeting of the Randolph Women's Republican Club. While also promoting her candidacy, Fowles made note that:

"Since women had gained the right to vote it was their duty to educate themselves to vote intelligently on the various issues."

From the Kennebec Journal, July 23, 1935.

  In September 1938 Fowles won her legislative seat, and in a write-up in the Portland Press Herald noted that she would seek a place on the education committee "when those favors are passed out." She took her seat in January 1939 and, at age 29, was one of the youngest members of that session of the legislature. Described as "bright-faced, smiling, alert", Grady was soon named to the committees on education and the library, as well as the committee on sanitariums. During her first term, Fowles served in the additional capacity of secretary-treasurer of the Order of Women Legislators, holding that post into 1940. In 1939 Neota Fowles married fellow Whitefield resident Joseph George Grady (1902-1971), to who she was wed for 32 years. The couple had one son, Alan George (1945-1961), who died unexpectedly at age 16.

  Announcing her candidacy for reelection in 1940, Neota Grady handily won reelection and during the 1941-43 term continued on the education and library committees. After leaving the legislature she served Whitefield as town treasurer from 1943-45 and was a member of the Lincoln County Republican committee. After a decade away from teaching Grady returned in 1950 to teach elementary school in Kings Mill. Nine years later she transferred to the Whitefield school where she taught the fifth grade, and in 1965 was a grade 6 reading teacher and assistant music teacher at the Pray Street School in Gardiner.

From the Kennebec Journal, January 20, 1940.

  In 1970 Neota Grady retired from teaching for nearly forty years and continued an active role in education in her state. Beginning in 1963 she served a two-year term as president of the Maine Department of Classroom Teachers, and two years following her retirement from teaching was elected president of the Kennebec Retired Teacher Association. In 1973 she advanced to the National Retired Teachers Association-AARP Maine State Legislative Committee, which she served on until 1983. From 1975-76 she held the additional role of board chair. 

  Active in the civic life of Whitefield, Grady was a longtime member of the Whitefield Union Church and Helping Hand Society, being church treasurer and organist. She was a seven decade member of the local grange, and was remarked as a talented piano player, playing at various local and county functions. She celebrated her 90th birthday in 1999 and died a month shy of her 91st birthday on July 1, 2000, at a nursing facility in Augusta. She was later interred alongside her husband and son at the Whitefield Cemetery.