Dr. Francis Guy ‘Doc’ McGrady Jr.
Sept. 21, 1933-Dec. 11, 2021
Dr. Francis Guy “Doc” McGrady Jr., 88, of Hillsboro passed away Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, at St. Vincent Williamsport Hospital, following a six-month battle with esophageal cancer.
Francis was born Sept. 21, 1933 at Rising Sun, Maryland. He was the son of the late Francis Guy McGrady and Lida (Ewing) McGrady. Francis grew up on a dairy farm and was active in 4-H, raising Jersey cattle and participating in state and national judging contests. Francis graduated from Rising Sun High School in 1951. He attended the University of Maryland for two years where he wrestled and took the necessary courses to enroll in veterinary school. He was assisted in his college expenses by a scholarship he earned due to his outstanding 4-H work. Francis then enrolled at Michigan State University and graduated as a doctor of veterinary medicine in 1957.
While attending Michigan State, Francis met and married Donna (Summers) McGrady of Waverly, Illinois. They moved to Hillsboro where he designed and built the home in which they raised five sons together: David Guy McGrady, Winona Lake, Indiana; Daniel Harold (Renee) McGrady, Hillsboro, Indiana; Mark Ennis (Misty) McGrady, Franklin, Tennessee; Gary Michael (Tina) McGrady, Hillsboro, Indiana; and Timothy Francis (Lori) McGrady, Hillsboro, Indiana.
Francis and Donna were divorced in 1984. He married Valerie Ann (Searle) McGrady on Sept. 15, 1984. She preceded him in death on May 12, 2021.
Upon graduation from Michigan State, Francis began practicing veterinary medicine in Fountain and Montgomery counties, first with Drs. Kenneth Preston and Tom Freas and then with Drs. Freas and Carl Jolley. Francis began acquiring farmland in 1967 in Fountain and Montgomery counties upon which he raised hogs, cattle, corn and soybeans. Francis opened his own veterinary clinic in Hillsboro in 1970. Also in 1970, he founded Pro-Gain Feeds which provides vitamin and mineral premix for hogs and cattle pursuant to formulas he invented himself. The Pro-Gain business has continued to the time of his death. Francis was a dealer of Crow’s Seed Corn for many years.
Francis was known in the community for his work ethic. Even after “retiring,” he began gathering and restoring farm trucks, tractors, implements and equipment to document how farming was transformed during his lifetime. These items are housed in a post and beam barn designed and built by Francis using timber harvested from one of his farms. The museum is located on the former site of Pro-Gain Feeds south of Hillsboro. The barn and equipment are intended to be preserved as a museum of these farming methods.
Francis also worked tirelessly at restoring old cemeteries in Cain Township, especially the Old Hillsboro Cemetery along Coal Creek next to his home. Francis was president of the Hillsboro Community Booster Club when the annual Beef Bar-B-Q was launched in September 1957. He was a youth baseball coach, swine superintendent at the Fountain County 4-H fair and active in the Indiana Pork Producers.
Surviving Francis are a brother, Donald (Marina) McGrady of Charlottesville, Virginia; a sister-in-law, Susan (Harvey) McGrady of Rising Sun, Maryland; four of his sons; 16 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; three stepchildren, Renee (Tom) Campbell, Sabrina (Greg) Petesch and Eric (Melissa) Doll; five step grandchildren and two step great-grandchildren. In addition to his parents and wife, Valerie, Francis was preceded in death by a brother, Harvey E. McGrady; a son, Daniel McGrady; and a daughter-in-law, Susan Baldwin McGrady.
Friends may call from 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021, at the Hillsboro United Methodist Church, with a service following at 6 p.m. with Pastor David Inskeep officiating. The barn museum with the farm equipment Francis lovingly assembled and restored will be open for self-guided tours at 680 S. State Road 341, Hillsboro from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the day of the services.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be considered to the Hillsboro United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 65, Hillsboro, IN 47949 or the Southeast Fountain Community Foundation, ATTN: Cain Township Cemetery Preservation Fund, the Daniel and Renee McGrady Family Fund or the Hillsboro/Cain Township Community Fund, P.O. Box 95, Veedersburg, IN 47987. Donations may also be made online at www.wicf-inc.org.
Maus Funeral Home, Hillsboro, is assisting the family with the arrangements.
Online condolences may be made at www.mausfuneralhome.com.
