Obituaries : Reginald del Valle Grady; Family Held Vast Land Grants

Reginald del Valle Grady, an eighth-generation member of one of Ventura County’s most prominent families who was once named an outstanding citizen of San Francisco by Time magazine, has died. He was 79.

Grady was a member of a Spanish family whose land grants included the fabled Rancho San Francisco, now the Santa Clarita Valley’s Newhall Ranch, and Rancho Camulos. Rancho Camulos, known for its enormous black walnut tree under whose generous branches hundreds of friends and family members picnicked, remained in the family through much of this century.

A longtime resident of San Francisco and Hillsborough, Grady traveled throughout the world with his parents. Considered an expert in trade and international affairs, he served as a director of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp.

Grady’s wide range of interests were also reflected in his directorship of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and in his service as a trustee of that city’s Fine Arts Museum Foundation. He died Saturday at Mills-Peninsula Hospital in Northern California.

His family tree reached to Father Junipero Serra’s expedition to California in the West, and the arrival of the Mayflower in the East. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, and was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

Survivors include his wife of 44 years, Betty K. Grady of Hillsborough; a brother; John Grady of Los Angeles; a sister, Mrs. John Patten Davies of Asheville, N.C.; three sons, Michael of Manhattan Beach, Reginald Jr. of San Mateo and Tyler of Winter Park, Fla.; and two granddaughters.

Services will be held at 12:05 p.m. Thursday at St. Catherine’s Catholic Church in Burlingame.