Jeanne Grassens McHugh

October 21, 1925 – September 29, 2018

Jeanne McHugh, beloved by many, died peacefully and on her own terms. She will be remembered for her generosity, her commitment to her political values, and her love and support of the arts. A great admirer of Epictetus, she embodied his stoic ideals, facing adversity uncomplainingly and with humor, courage, and grace. Jeanne was born in 1925, the daughter of Adele Trantow Grassans and Joseph Bartalan Grassans, and grew up in San Francisco, attending George Washington High School and graduating from U.C. Berkeley in 1947 with a degree in Political Science and Economics. While at Cal she met her husband Edward “Ted” McHugh. They were married in 1948. Ted later became the Public Information Officer of the Bay Area Air Quality Control District, a position he held until shortly before his death in 1994. Jeanne was also preceded in death by her daughter, Sheila, who died at the age of 40.

Jeanne taught in the Berkeley School District from 1951 to 1961, until her daughter’s birth. While teaching at Thousand Oaks Elementary School in Berkeley, she decided to put her summer vacation to use for graduate school, and earned a Political Science Masters degree in 1951. Jeanne and Ted were very involved in social issues, and after four years at home, she took the job of Executive Secretary of the civil rights organization Northern California Americans for Democratic Action (A.D.A.). Jeanne had a fund of stories about her activism in progressive causes. Later she endowed several scholarships, the Adele T. and Joseph T. Grassens scholarship, the Ted and Jeanne McHugh scholarship, both at the University of California at Berkeley, and the Sheila McHugh Memorial Scholarship at Cal State East Bay, dedicated to promoting social responsibility in women’s education and global population control. Her friends knew her as a great organizer, both in politics and in her social life. For years she took BART to meet friends for MOMA and lunch; after she and Ted moved to Kensington, they hosted dozens of New Year’s parties. She was a presider, whether at a tennis game or a meeting with a Democrat bigwig.

Jeanne loved to travel; her first trips to Europe were on the Queen Mary. As a travel companion, she knew the history of every country she visited, from Egypt to Italy, but especially France and Greece. In the Loire Valley, she regaled her friends with anecdotes about each castle. She visited the Parthenon in the early fifties, when crowds were nonexistent and tourists had the freedom to wander the ruins without restriction.

Jeanne earned her real estate license in 1979 and joined Caldwell Banker, where she became an award-winning realtor known for her original sales presentations and ability to find the perfect house for everyone from her budgetconscious niece to a nineties rock star. She retired in 2010, having moved to Piedmont Gardens in 2009, where she remained involved in political and UC Alumni activities. She also continued to enjoy opera, music, theater, and ballet, ordering van tickets and arranging transportation to these events for herself and others until very near her life’s end. According to her friend Nina Luce, “Jeanne was fun. The laughter emanating from her table was uproarious.” Jeanne had a true enthusiasm for life.

All are welcome to attend a memorial for Jeanne at Piedmont Gardens in Oakland on October 20, 2:00 p.m. Jeanne wanted to be remembered this way: “she did no harm, and tried to do good.” And, “in lieu of flowers, vote Democrat!”