Grady Lee Elwell, 46, of Oviedo died May 24 after a more than four-year fight with Grade 4 Astrocytoma, an aggressive brain cancer. After the final bell, Grady transcended his physical body as an eternal winner because of how he lived as a father, husband, son, brother and friend. “It ain’t about how hard you hit,” as Rocky Balboa told his son and Grady told all of us. “It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” Grady grew up in Bath, ME (Go Sox and Pats!) and graduated from Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange, FL. He earned two degrees from the University of Florida (Go Gators!) and spent 22 years at Lockheed Martin, where he was known for his attention to detail, empathetic management style and loyalty to his teams. Grady loved music and served as his daughter’s first piano teacher as well as a reliable plus one to anyone with tickets to see an 80’s hair band. He delighted in cooking a great meal and competed for a time on a backyard barbecue team with friends, placing for his meticulously mopped pulled pork. He traveled in Europe and Asia with Beth Kassab, his loving and devoted wife of nearly 16 years, but his greatest adventures came with fatherhood. Grady loved their two children Elise, 13, and Evan, 11, fiercely and unconditionally. Recently, Grady wrote a list of his greatest joys (Grady also loved lists), and most items included his kids such as waking up to the sound of Elise playing the piano, epic pool noodle battles with Evan and watching them both experience the natural beauty in his home states Maine and Florida as well the two days our family adopted playful cat Rudy and lab mix Sammy, a most tender companion. Through faith and love, we believe Grady will continue to be with us. He was preceded in death by his mother Mary Ann Elwell and is also survived by his father, Alan Elwell; brothers, Mike Elwell (Nancy) and Beau Elwell (Traycee); sisters, Brenda Elwell-Taylor and Lisa Elwell; many nieces and nephews and family-in-love Jerry and Nancy Kassab; Ben Kassab; Sean Davis and Kelly Maxey (Weston).
A Celebration of Life will take place on June 6, 2022 at 3:00 PM at the First United Methodist Church located at 125 N Interlachen Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789.