Priory Founder Mary Ann Graf, RIP (1938-2014)

This is a difficult post to write, and it's one that I have been putting off for some time.  My mother, Mary Ann Graf, who founded the Priory Hotel along with my Dad, Ed, back in the mid 1980's, passed away at the age of 75 back in January.   Although she had been retired from active participation Priory operations for more than 10 years, her mark in what is the Priory Hotel and Grand Hall remain -- from many of the antiques which populate guest rooms and common areas, to the European feel of the property, to the way guests are accommodated.  Mary Ann's philosophy was that if a guest had a need, it was her duty to try to fulfill it.  We certainly continue to aspire to her level of guest service to this day, and her influence is still strongly felt.  

Mary Ann was an extremely accomplished person who touched many lives.  She will be sadly missed by many, but most of all by her husband, sons, their wives and children.  

You can read a news obituary about Mary Ann's life by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Anna Sostek here.  

You can read many of the kind comments posted by people to the Post-Gazette website here.  Quite a few came from her former kindergarten students from Emsworth Elementary School, where she was a teacher for only three years (1960-63) but was much loved by her students, then and now.