Back to main page - - - - Forward to next page (extended family)

Burrells and Gradys:

A Descriptive Family Tree

Mom

Dorothy Mae Grady

The fourth child of William and Estelle Grady. Married to Gary John Burrell, June 1965 in Springfield, MA; divorced January 1984. Dorothy has lived in Connecticut for over 26 years, and has been the primary administrator in the Coventry Human Services office since its formation in 1980. She oversees aid to the poor and sundry other emergency services as well as elderly and youth programs. Dorothy attended college part-time, obtaining her bachelor's degree from Eastern Connecticut State College in 1990. She has been active in politics, serving on many boards and committees and attending local, state, and national democratic conventions. In 1991, she ran for State Representative, losing by only 96 votes. She is president of the Women's Issues Network of Connecticut, former president of CALAGA, and delegate to Bill Clinton's convention this year in Chicago (though she initially was - gasp! a Jerry Brown supporter in 1992). Dorothy suffers from three children, Steven, Michael, and Dave

Dad

Gary John Burrell

Born to parents Eunice and Stanley Burrell. Married to Dorothy Mae Grady in June 1965, officially divorced 1984, and remarried to Adrienne Barlow the same year. Gary attended American International College in Springfield for a short time, and has since worked nearly 30 years in the sale of spare parts for aircraft engines (none of which, he assures me, has crashed recently). He travels all around the world and comes home to golf and live in a house by the seashore with a neat boat. Like my mom, he also has three active and intelligent sons, David, Michael, and Steven, who likewise help him to suffer for it.

Dealing with three boys -- what fun it must have been. Well, at least they got to practice enough so that things were pretty much routine by the time I came to adolescence...

Brothers

Steven John Burrell

Dorothy Grady and Gary Burrell's oldest son, all-state soccer player, and former long-haired hippy looking freak. When he is not injuring his foot, Steev works as a cook and kitchen manager in Connecticut. He also claims that he's becoming a good golfer, which would be a huge improvement from when he and a friend used to stand at opposite ends of the yard and shoot each other with BB guns.

His daughter, Samantha Jade Burrell, born January 1991 of mother Shari Mattingly.
His son, River Steven Reno, born September 1993 of mother Michelle (Shelly) Reno.

Michael William Burrell

The middle son of Dorothy Grady and Gary Burrell, Mike worked his way through college as a late night shift manager at UPS, throwing boxes around and generally damaging things. He graduated with a degree in business administration from Eastern Connecticut State College, and then went to work for Ryerson Steel in Charlotte, North Carolina. He's now working as purchasing manager for Ilco Unican in Winston-Salem and trying to battle an ever-slowing metabolic rate with copious amounts of racquetball and exercise.

And me

David Thomas Burrell

The third son in the family, the master work of Dorothy Grady and Gary Burrell. After growing up under the persisent delusion that he was Chinese (his mom told him that every fifth person in the world was Chinese - and he was the fifth person in the family, so...), David graduated from Holy Cross College and worked for a time as a private school teacher in Colorado. He returned to school in 1995 for a yet-unachieved M.A.

in history at the University of Chicago, and currently is working towards his doctorate at Ohio State, where he's also a teaching assistant and 6'5" off-guard for the Buckeye football squad (picture enclosed).

Back to main page - - - - Forward to next page (extended family)