Crash claims Salem hero; Chelsea woman charged with drunked driving
Boston Herald; Boston, Mass.; Sep 28, 1999; DAVID WEBER and TOM FARMER;

Parents and their children in Salem and Beverly were stunned yesterday to learn that a man who devoted his short life to kids of all ages was killed by an alleged drunk driver over the weekend.

Stephen O'Grady, 30, of Salem, was recalled fondly as executive director and a driving force behind the rejuvenated Salem Boys and Girls Club, coach of the best Little League baseball team in Salem and former gym teacher at St. John the Evangelist School in Beverly.

"No one 30 years old has done more for a city than he did for this city," said Peter Merry, president of the Salem Boys and Girls Club. "There are kids all over this city who know of and love Steve O'Grady."

A Chelsea woman, Maureen Henry, 53, was arraigned yesterday in Haverhill District Court on charges of drunken driving and motor vehicle homicide in connection with the accident that killed O'Grady and injured two friends as well as an unacquainted motorist about 7 p.m. Sunday on Interstate 95 in Boxford.

Authorities said she registered a .14 on a breath-alcohol test. The legal presumption of impairment is .08.

At St. John the Evangelist School, where O'Grady worked as gym teacher and all-around friend of the kids for about seven years immediately after his college days, principal Karen McCarthy characterized him as a man of boundless potential.

"He was just about 20 (years old) when he came here and became athletic director and did our gym classes. His ability to relate to our children was unheard of, especially in someone that age.

Recalling O'Grady's sense of fair play, McCarthy said he once set up a ski club for students in grades five through eight, then established a bowling league for the younger kids after realizing they deserved something, too.

Salem police officer Charles Reed, a board member at the Boys and Girls Club, said, "I could go on and on about how great he was for the kids; how great he was for the city.

"Steve's done so much. When we brought Steve in about five years ago, we had almost shut down the club. We were near bankruptcy, and I was against a 25-year-old boy running the club and he proved me wrong. We're on our way to a beautiful club. We've grown so much since he took over."

Reed said news of O'Grady's death brought many students, teachers and administrators to tears yesterday.

Police said Henry was driving southbound in a Mercedes-Benz when she veered left and hit a Jeep carrying O'Grady and knocked it into a roll.

The Jeep was driven by O'Grady's secretary at the Boys and Girls Club, Roseanne Cross, 43, who suffered minor injuries. Her husband, Wayne Cross, 43, was in good condition yesterday at Boston Medical Center.

Henry's vehicle continued across the median into the northbound lanes and hit a BMW before she went down an embankment and came to rest without suffering major injury.

The BMW driver, Timothy Murphy, 33, of Groveland, suffered minor cuts and bruises.

At the time of the collision, O'Grady and the Crosses were returning from O'Grady's ski condo in North Conway, N.H.

At Dube's Seafood Restaurant on Salem's Jefferson Avenue, where the bachelor O'Grady often ordered dinner to go, waitress Margie Raymond remembered him as the superb coach of the local Little League champions, the Reds.

O'Grady loved his baseball team so much he paid extra for a vanity plate reading, "REDS," for his Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Salem Schools Superintendent Herbert Levine said elementary school students were sent home yesterday with sealed letters informing parents of O'Grady's death and instructions for parents to discuss the situation with their children. Middle school students were told in school, where counselors were made available.