 1890 - 1980 (89 years)
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| Name |
Grace M Barber |
| Born |
20 Apr 1890 |
Alpena, Alpena County, Michigan  [1] |
| Gender |
Female |
| Name |
Grace Barber [1] |
| Died |
08 Mar 1980 |
Grosse Pointe Farms, Wayne County, Michigan [1] |
| Buried |
Evergreen Cemetery, Alpena, Alpena County, Michigan [1] |
| Person ID |
I10755 |
Jerry Milo Johnson |
| Last Modified |
29 Mar 2015 |
| Father |
Eustache Barber, b. 04 Sep 1862, McNab, Renfrew, Lanark, Canada , d. 11 Oct 1931 (Age 69 years) |
| Relationship |
Natural |
| Mother |
Rachel Scott, b. May 1866, Canada , d. 13 May 1911 (Age ~ 44 years) |
| Relationship |
Natural |
| Married |
02 Jul 1889 |
Alpena, Alpena County, Michigan [1] |
| Family ID |
F3709 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- Birth & death verified by Jim Richards
Died in Bon Secours Hospital, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan
****OBIT****
Grace Haedke, writer
by Susan Morse, Free Press Staff Writer
Grace Barber Haedke, whose name was synonymous with beauty writing in Detroit throughout the 1940s and 50s, died Saturday at Bon Secours Hospital in Gross Pointe at the age of 83.
As Free Press beauty writer in an era when the women's pages were critical to a newspaper's reputation, she was courted by such fashion queens as Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubenstein and Rose Laird -- who became personal friends --- and her advice was sought by thousands of women readers.
She took her work seriously, and her refusal to endorse cosmetic products without pre- testing them won her the respect of colleagues and industry giants.
Charles of the Ritz once told her: "if only the cosmetics industry would give out awards to the best beauty reporter of the year, I know you would walk away with the medals."
Miss Barber, as she was known to her readers, was proud of her work and her place in a male-dominated profession. Upon retirement in 1961 she said: "Mine has been a women's job if ever there was such a thing... What man could test colors of makeup, treatment, creams and lotions, hair and hand preparation? Or pass along the word about the newest advance in beauty shops, hair-dressing techniques, figure-shaping salons?"
Friends and co-workers remembered her Sunday for her personal kindness, her meticulousness, and her professionalism.
"She had a delightful personality. She was a warm, a very giving person," recalled Jon Buechel, fashion artist for the Free Press and a friend to Miss Barber.
Laurena Pringle Kilpatrick, former Free Press women's editor with whom Miss Barber once shared a "What's Proper in Detroit?" column, said: "She had a tremendous following because people trusted her so and trusted her judgement. She wrote with authority and in a very simple style."
Kay Savage Kennedy, a food writer who used to sit next to Miss Barber, called her both "charming" and a stickler for accuracy.
"When the cosmetic people would come in to tell her about their new products, she wouldn't just take their word for it. She had to have some proof that this cream did such and such a thing..."
She was born in 1896 in Alpena, where she once worked as a teacher. Dissatisfied with teaching, she left her job to study business at Cleary College in Ypsilanti. She called her hiring by the Free Press after graduation in 1918 "unbelievable luck."
She began as an errand girl and secretary, wrote women's page features, edited the now defunct Girls and Boys section of the paper, and in 1940 was assigned to write a beauty advice column. Fifteen years later she was answering 50,000 letters and phone calls a year from readers seeking help.
Miss Barber was a member of the Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary Chapter No 5 and a member of the St. Columbia Episcopal Church in Detroit.
Service will be 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Verheyden Funeral Home, 16300 Mack, Gross Pointe Park. Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery in Alpena.
Surname: HAEDKE Given Name: Grace Middle Initial: B
Sex: Female
Alias:
Day of Birth: 20 Month of Birth: April Year of Birth: 90
Day of Death: 08 Month of Death: March Year of Death: 80
City of Residence: St Clair Shores County of Residence: Macomb State of Residence: Michigan
City of Death: Grosse Pointe County of Death: Wayne State of Death: Michigan
Death Certificate No.: 17814
Listed in 1900 Michigan Census, Alpena County, Alpena, 3rd Ward (ED#11, Sheet 14A)
Listed in 1910 Michigan Census, Alpena County, Alpena, 1st Ward (ED#8, Sheet 17B)
Listed in 1920 Michigan Census, Wayne County, Detroit, Ward# 15 (ED# 449, Sheet 8B)
- Living with sister Louise
Listed in 1930 Michigan Census, Wayne County, Detroit, Ward# 21 (ED# 82-759, Sheet 24A)
Alt. Birth: 28 Apr 1890 Alpena, Alpena County, Michigan
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