Grace T. Contrades
Grace Contrades died September 18 at her home in Riberas del Pilar at the age of 87.
Contrades was born in 1929, the third of four children to the Reverend Arthur and Ester Tacke in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She graduated in 1951 with a B.A. from Valparaiso University. Contrades worked for the Milwaukee Department of Public Welfare for eight years, before moving to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1959.
There, she obtained a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Hawaii, later working for the Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center – a child welfare agency established in trust by Hawaii’s last reigning monarch – between 1961 and 1966.
She married Franklin Manowiki Contrades, a widower with married children, in 1962.
Contrades also worked as the chairperson of a family advocacy team, specializing in child abuse and neglect, at the Tripler Army Medical Center, a large teaching hospital that treated many Vietnam War veterans. She retired from Tripler in 1989 and moved with her husband to Chapala Haciendas, where they purchased a home. Her husband preceded her in death in 1995.
In 2001, Contrades moved to Riberas del Pilar, where she was chauffeured by Samuel, who served her in this capacity for many years.
Friends say Contrades was a true Christian woman, and lived her life sharing God’s love. She was a member of the Little Chapel by the Lake and later the Lakeside Presbyterian Church. She was also on the board of directors of the local Humane Society.
Contrades was predeceased by sister Esther Bartelt and brother Arthur W. Tacke.
She is survived by brother William Tacke (Mae) of New Ulm, Minnesota; sister-in-law Roberta Tacke; stepson Franklin M. Contrades, Jr., many step-grandchildren and 11 nieces and nephews.