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Kathleen (Kay) Grahl passed away peacefully on July 4, 2023. Kay was born on April 5, 1936 to Helen and Joseph Ralbovsky in Johnstown, New York. Her family was Slovak immigrants with limited means and she was able to attend college only because she was a New York State Regents Scholar. She graduated with a degree in Education from Cortland State University (SUNY) in 1958. After several years as a teacher in upstate New York, she joined the Peace Corps in 1962. She was part of the first Peace Corps group to be sent to Liberia and she met her husband of 60 years, Larry Grahl, in Pittsburgh during Peace Corps training. Larry joined the United States Foreign Service in 1967 and she served along with him as a true diplomatic spouse for his entire career, since she was not allowed in the early days to continue her own career. They served for many years in West Africa with a final assignment at the Consulate General in Karachi, Pakistan. She also volunteered as a docent for several years in the African section of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, and later at the Muscarelle Museum at the College of William and Mary and the King and Queen Historical Society Museum in Virginia.
Kay loved Larry, her two daughters and their families, her cats and reading mysteries and Jane Austen. To quote her grandchildren, she was the “sweetest, nicest woman ever” and she will be missed. Immediate surviving relatives include her husband Larry Grahl, her sister JoAnn Hauf, her two daughters Christine Gottesman (Andy) and Jennifer TeHuki (Murray), and her grandchildren Joseph Gottesman, Taine TeHuki, Ben Gottesman and Kairangi TeHuki.
Arrangements will be private.
