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Sunday gathering honors Mary-Curtis Gramley By Mail Tribune staff Updated: Sep 16, 2022 04:35 PM A A Mary-Curtis Gramley and husband, Dale Gramley. [courtesy photo] Friends, family, clients, colleagues and children will gather together at Hanley Farm at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18, to celebrate the life and work of Mary-Curtis Gramley, longtime local resident and leading advocate for children in the community. Gramley, who passed away May 17, 2021, at age 84, taught at Southern Oregon University for several years, enhanced the early childhood education program and made it a main point of emphasis for the college, according to a news advisory issued Friday by Family Nurturing Center. “Mary-Curtis was the key leader to create and develop the Master of Arts in Teaching program, which continues to be SOU’s dynamic teacher education program,” Steve Thorpe, professor emeritus, said in the release. Gramley then moved to CASA and built up support systems for children and families in the legal system. “She was an advocate for CASA, and she was an advocate for kids through the child welfare system,” said John Hamilton, Jackson County Juvenile Consortium administrator. Gramley’s “opus” was the Family Nurturing Center. Starting with supporting just two families, the organization now supports over 2,300 in its 13 different programs,” the release said. “I think what Mary-Curtis ... was to us was a beacon of light. I often say that she's our north star — that she keeps us on track for the right reasons,” said Lisa O’Connor, executive director of Family Nurturing Center. Gramley also helped Dr. Kerri Hecox in the creation of Oasis, a family-centered medical clinic addressing the needs of families affected by substance use disorders, the release noted. “I think it's rare to meet people who really can have a feeling for the magic that lives in the lives and in the world of children, and Mary-Curtis was one of the rare people that really understood that, to see that, and feel that and honor that — and that her dedication to protecting that world for children, I think, was very, very unique and kind of rare in this world,” said Kristen Johnson, Oasis executive director. Gramley’s son, Joe Gramley, will perform at Sunday’s program. According to her obituary, Gramley was born Oct. 24, 1936, in Graham, North Carolina. She graduated from Salem College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1958 and began her career as an elementary school teacher. When her youngest child started school, she continued her education, earning a master’s in counseling psychology (1980) and Ph.D. in early childhood development (1988) at University of Oregon. She is survived by her husband, Dale Gramley, and their five children: Jane, Dale, Walter, Andrew and Joseph, and seven grandchildren. Sister Jane Beck lives in Burlington, North Carolina.