Obituaries

Virginia P. Grattan

Virginia P. Grattan passed away peacefully Thursday, July 15, 2021, at Peconic Bay Medical Center after a brief illness. She was 92 years old.

Virginia, known as “Ginny,” was born Sept. 17, 1928, in Mineola, N.Y., to Frances (Rathgeber) and Walter H. Preston. After graduating from Bayside High School, where she was voted “most popular” by her peers, she channeled her charitable and caring spirit into the study of nursing at St. Catherine’s Nursing School in Brooklyn. After working as a registered nurse in a hospital for a time, she joined American Airlines as a flight attendant, fulfilling a lifelong dream. 

In December 1951, Ginny married Sheldon “Joe” Sage and they lived in East Hartford, Conn., for a few years before moving to Long Island, N.Y., and eventually to Greenport in 1958. In addition to caring for her and Joe’s three children, Ginny was involved in helping Joe build a travel business in Greenport, Sage Travel Service. Her passion for traveling was piqued. 

As a widow with three children, Ginny always felt blessed to meet another wonderful man, Roger F. Grattan. They married on St. Patrick’s Day 1966 and added two more children to their brood. Although she could claim some ancestral tie to Ireland, Ginny loved the connection to Irish culture and traditions that marrying Roger afforded her.

She dabbled in many different careers, loving aspects of all of them: hand model, flight attendant, nurse, real estate agent, travel agent and coordinator of tour groups through Collette Tours. She also penned the Greenport column of The Suffolk Times and volunteered with the Eastern Long Island Hospital Auxiliary. She was an avid bridge player and loved watching football and golf on TV.

Ginny is survived by her husband of 55 years, Roger; children, Michael (Karen) Sage of East Marion, James (Beverly) Sage of Greenport, Patricia (Edward) Kondak of East Marion, Kathleen (Lawrence) Grattan of Beverly, Mass., and Matthew (Annie) Grattan of Bainbridge Island, Wash.; 13 grandchildren: Michael Sage Jr., Kevin (Leticia) Sage, Kelly Sage, Shannon Sage, Sean Sage, Melissa (Kondak) Blum (Jeff), Stephen Kondak, Nicholas Kondak, Nathaniel Grattan, Connor Grattan, Elizabeth Grattan, Alexandria Durkin and Quinn Durkin; four great-grandchildren, Gavin Sage, Walter Blum, Lucy Blum and Shea VanEtten; a sister, Joan (James) Vienneau of Franklin, Tenn.; and many nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her first husband, Joe; her parents; and her two brothers, Walter and Raymond Preston.

The family received friends July 19 at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold. The Liturgy of Christian Burial was celebrated July 20 at St. Agnes R.C. Church in Greenport, officiated by Father Robert Hayden. Interment followed at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Southold.

Memorial donations to St. Agnes R.C. Church or Peconic Bay Medical Center would be appreciated. 

This is a paid notice.