Red Grandy Exhibit

Photographer Red Grandy was one of the founders of the Morristown Gateway Museum.
​He had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. The museum is proud to display his works.
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Published in the Watertown Daily Times on Thursday August 16, 2018.  Article written by Larry Robinson
​Photographer 'Red' Grandy remembered as someone with an eye and passion for life
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HERMON — When 96-year-old Francis “Red” Grandy passed away on Aug. 8 at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg, the noted photographer’s family felt an obvious sense of loss, but those who knew him best said his life had been too full for them to be overwhelmed with grief.

Mr. Grandy, who spent 35 years as chief of photography at the Stars and Stripes newspaper in Europe, is credited with taking some of the most iconic photos of his generation, including an award-winning shot of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower frowning at the exact moment he learned that President Harry S. Truman had removed Gen. Douglas MacArthur from duty in 1951. The photograph ran on newspaper and magazine front pages around the world.

During his lengthy career, Red chronicled details of a pivotal time in world history, documenting post World War II and Cold War era events that included the rebuilding of Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the historic U.S. hockey team win against Russia in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

He also photographed dozens of world leaders, celebrities and iconic figures, including Ray Charles, Sophia Loren, Chuck Yaeger, Hayley Mills and Muhammad Ali.

Presidents that would be frozen in time by his lens included Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson.

Lloyd Grandy II, a partner at the Carlisle Law Firm in Ogdensburg, is Red’s nephew, and someone who shared a close relationship with the late photographer. He said his uncle had a passion for life that was unrivaled, and remained physically and mentally active until his final days.

“This is a guy who continued to downhill ski into his 90s,” said Mr. Grandy. “At the end, uncle Red was prepared and comfortable with what was happening. One thing we know for certain is that if Red Grandy wasn’t ready to die, he’d still be here with us today.”
For Mr. Grandy, and his sister Connie Grandy Augsbury, growing up in the shadow of their famous uncle on the Lazy River Road in Hermon was magical.

As a child, Ms. Augsbury said she relished her uncle Red’s visits from Europe. She said each return home to the north country during his photographic career was a spectacle that had the ability to draw family and friends from throughout the Russell, Hermon and Canton areas.

“When I was a kid I used to think of him as James Bond in a gray flannel suit,” Ms. Augsbury said with a laugh. “He would fly in from Europe for a couple of weeks and tell us these amazing stories about incredible cities and adventures, or about getting inside some embassy somewhere to get a picture that no else had. To me, he could do anything. He had this invincible ability to do what he wanted, he was like Superman to me, nothing was going to stop him.”

Born on the family farm in Russell in 1922, Red and his brother Lloyd each dreamed of someday becoming military fighter pilots, according to Ms. Augsbury. She said her own father, Lloyd, achieved the dream, and at the age of 19 was a heavy bomber pilot commanding a crew of nine during World War II. She said her father would not only serve during the war, but would become a decorated hero, and go on to make a career out of military life.

But a bout of rheumatic fever stopped Red from fulfilling his own dream of becoming a military pilot. Instead he attended the University of Southern California and was later hired by the U.S. Armed Forces publication Stars and Stripes in Darmstadt, Germany as a staff photographer.

Red had been working at the newspaper in Europe for just a few months when he took his famous “I’ll Be Darned” photo of Gen. Eisenhower.

His nephew said his uncle achieved worldwide fame for his work, but did not acquire wealth from that or his other photos. He said the copyrights and negatives were owned by Stars and Stripes. And that suited his uncle just fine.

“It was not a money making gig,” Mr. Grandy said. “He was a photojournalist and was there to capture the moment. He loved what he did. In fact, he often said that he felt he had been privileged just to go, and see and do the things he did. It was never about the money to him.”

Although Red died earlier this month, funeral services won’t be held until September, according to his niece. Ms. Augsbury said calling hours will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 13, and funeral services on Sept. 14.

She said the delay is intentional, and will allow people from outside the area to make the long journey to Northern New York to pay their respects.

“There are people from Europe, and from the Stars and Stripes that will want to come,” she said. “He knew people all over the world and we expect a lot of them will want to be here.”

Locally, other plans are also in the works to honor Red.

Mahlon T. Clements, a member of the Morristown Gateway Museum board of directors, said Red was a former member and supporter of the local museum, helping the organization get off the ground.

“Several of us who were founders of the Gateway Museum, met and enjoyed working with Red Grandy,” Mr. Clements said. “He was a remarkable, talented person. I am sorry to hear that he has passed, and I will miss the phone calls I received every few months from Red. I believe the Gateway Museum should have a showing of his photos and his work at sometime this summer and fall, in honor of an amazing person and photographer who contributed to the assets of the Gateway Museum.

He added, “We will all miss him, but his photos will live on.”


More about Red:
— Francis Grandy was born on the Grandy Farm in the town of Russell on Jan. 26, 1922 to John B. Grandy and Zoe (Wikoff) Grandy. He was nicknamed Red, same as his mother, for their auburn hair. Red had six siblings, Lloyd, Jean, Pauline, Charlie and half-sister Anne and half-brother Harold “Johnny” Grandy. Red spent much of his youth helping his father on the farm.
— In 1946 Red enrolled at USC and asked photo department head Doug Kilgour for a job. Turned down the first time Red, notoriously turning adversity into adventure, went out and got a shot that he sold to the Los Angeles Daily News. He brought the photo and story back to Kilgour and was hired on the spot.
— Graduating in 1950 he had the opportunity to go to Europe with a friend from college. After touring France, Italy, England, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and stopping in Switzerland to hike the Matterhorn, Red met Bette Kaye Kappemeyer in Darmstadt, Germany. She and her husband invited Red to attend a dinner with them at the Stars and Stripes Newspaper Headquarters in Darmstadt. There he met Managing Editor, Ken Zumwalt and was told about an opening on the photo staff. After an initial no, Zumwalt agreed to give Red a trial run.
— In the first four months working for Stars and Stripes Red took the award winning, “I’ll Be Darned” photo of Dwight D. Eisenhower in response to news of Truman’s decision to replace Gen. MacArthur with Gen. Ridgway. Later after running in almost every newspaper and magazine in the US, Gen. Eisenhower sent Red a signed copy of the photo with an inscription which read “For Red Grandy, who in this picture, surprised an old soldier.” The “I’ll Be Darned” photo hangs today as the first photo on the wall as you enter the Stars and Stripes Offices in Washington, DC.
— Today Stars and Stripes still celebrates Red with their “Photo of the Day” collection featuring photographs from throughout his career.
— Later in life Red enjoyed hosting parties at Lazy River Playground built by his father in the early 1940s, spending time with his grandchildren and friends and giving rides in his prized Amphibious car he had shipped from Germany.
— Red is survived by his sister Patricia Anne Harmer, daughter Kathryn Grandy Tabor, her four sons Greg Reczko, Andy Reczko, Doug Reczko, and Lowen Tabor, nieces and nephews, seven great grandchildren, eight great great-grandchildren, and several great nieces and great nephews.