Ann Kempson Grau, born on October 19, 1931 in Bridgeport, Alabama, died peacefully
of natural causes in Arlington, Virginia on February 13, 2023. She was 91 years old.
The oldest daughter of Clarice and Jerry Maples, she lived a long and remarkable life.
She attended Brenau, a women’s college in Gainesville, Georgia, in 1949, but the
following year transferred to Eastern New Mexico University to be closer to where her
family had moved after her father contracted (and survived) tuberculosis. There she met
her first husband, Clinton Norris Kempson, and they eventually settled in Southern
California. She later earned her Administrative Services Credential at California State
University, Fullerton.
She was an elementary, junior high, and high school teacher, and then a school
administrator in the Tustin Unified School District for nearly 20 years. In 1975, she
survived the sudden death of her husband of 23 years when she was just 44 years old
with a son still in high school. She eventually sold the family home and moved closer to
the California coastline, where after some time, she met and married her second
husband, Mel Grau, who died in their 29th year together. She then relocated to Northern
Virginia to be closer to her children: Mark and his wife Janet Greenberg, Lauri and her
husband Ron Brooks, and Judson.
A beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Ann will be remembered for
her charm, her almost other-worldly intuition, her kindness to the most vulnerable
among us, and her signature wry sense of humor. She considered her spectacular white
standard poodle, Coco, her soul mate. She was an avid reader and expressed her
sensitivities through her writing and artwork. She is survived by her younger sister,
Linda Williams, as well as her three children; two stepdaughters: Pamela Grau Twena
and Claudia Grau Sender; eight grandchildren: Spencer and Norris Brooks; Jonathan,
Satya (Zurofsky), and Claire (Haskell) Twena; Malka, Stella, and Joseph Sender; and
five great-grandchildren. We are grateful to have had the privilege to participate in her
life. She provided us a model not so much for a woman but for a human being,
influencing how we lead our lives, conduct our relationships, and change our world.
A memorial service will be held on April 29 at Peters Cove Cemetery in Woodville,
Alabama at 1:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to
the National Museum of Women in the Arts or the Mu Chapter of the Phi Mu Sorority at
Brenau University.
Arrangements Entrusted to Scottsboro Funeral Home
