Helen Adele Riley Mcgrath Pollak Davis
Helen Adele Riley Mcgrath Pollak Davis
Helen Adele Riley
McGrath Pollak Davis, 95, of Meridian, ID, left us to be with her Heavenly
Father on Thursday, June 7, 2012.
She was born in
Hartford, Connecticut, on August 11, 1916, the daughter of John J. Riley and
Mary Helen Flanigen Riley. Due to her father’s
work position and the extensive traveling and moving, Adele was raised in
Detroit by the Mothers of the Sacred Heart Convent until she was 12 years old and then by the Sisters of Loretto Abbey
in Toronto, Ontario. At the age of 17 she
graduated from Loretto Abbey and became a Dental Assistant before marrying
Maurice McGrath at the age of 18. They
were married twenty-eight years and had four sons. Their youngest son, Barry was brain damaged
at 12 months as a result of chicken pox/encephalitis. The lack of help and understanding for the
mentally challenged at that time led Adele on a crusade to provide a better
existence for them. She became President
of the first organization in Toronto, Director of the Ontario Association, and Vice
President of the Canadian National Association & was Canada’s delegate to
the International Association for R.C.. Adele
was involved in the starting of the Canadian Association of what is known as
“Special Olympics”.
Adele moved to Santa
Monica, CA in 1963. She married Joseph
Pollak in 1963 and he died six years later.
Adele became very involved in AA in the Los Angeles area. She married Harold A. “Hal” Davis in
1974. They lived in California for 20
years, buying and selling houses on the beach, before moving to Boise, Idaho to
retire. In Idaho they also bought and
sold houses in the Boise, Eagle, and Meridian area.
Hal and Adele were
very active in their church, both in California and Boise. They both loved Bible Studies, Foreign
Missions and helping the less fortunate.
Adele’s pet projects in Boise were the Boise Rescue Mission, Special
Olympics and her church family at Central Assembly. She was involved in many different groups and
ministries at Central.
Adele loved interior
decorating and opening her home for God & charitable purposes. She and Hal held a “Happy Birthday Jesus”
party for 29 years in California and Boise.
Adele’s most fervent wish was for everyone to know and serve Jesus.
Adele was preceded
in death by her parents, husbands, and brother, Jack Riley. Survivors include
her sons, Bryan McGrath and his wife, B.J., Meridian, Robert McGrath and his
wife, Dianne, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Thomas Patrick McGrath, Coeur d’Alene,
ID and special son, Barry McGrath, Port Hope, Ontario, Canada; adopted son,
Alan Duff and his wife, Dianne; grandchildren,
Susan McGrath, Orange, CA, Michael McGrath, San Diego, CA, Colleen DeLeon,
Boise, ID, Leanne McKay, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Dean McGrath, Calgary
Alberta, Canada, and adopted grandson, Jeff Duff, CA; 10 great grandchildren
and 2 adopted great grandchildren; and all the McGrath family in Ontario,
Canada. There were also many people in
Adele’s life that she adopted as part of “her own” family. There are too many to name but know that you
were all close and faithful friends who were very special people in her life.
Adele’s “Going Home”
party will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday, June 15, 2012 at Central Assembly
Christian Life Center. Burial will be
held in Terrace Lawn Memorial Park. Friends
may call at the Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel on Thursday, from 5:00 p.m. until
7:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers,
Adele asks that donations be made to the Boise Rescue Mission or to Global
Missions @ Central Assembly Christian Life Center.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Helen Adele Riley Mcgrath Pollak Davis, please visit our flower store.
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