Johann Grisez,

Johann Grisez, a resident of Montvale, and a former resident and business owner in Pearl River, passed away at her home on December 20, 2024. She was 100 years old.

Johann was born in Montreal, Canada, on May 10, 1924, to Jeanette Pelletier and Wallace Truesdale, as the second of 7 children.  She worked in marketing for a Quebec newspaper and as a hostess in a Montreal dinner club, where she met Maurice Grisez, who had been in the Navy and was a student at Columbia University.  They married, had a daughter and moved into Camp Shanks, in Orangeburg, NY, where they lived for 7 years before moving to Pearl River.

In 1953 Johann began work as a machinist at the Orapoint Corporation, a tool and dye company, located in the Pearl River industrial terminal.   Over time she was promoted several times and in 1974, she purchased the company, renamed it Durapoint and served as its president for the next 15 years.  Maurice and Johann moved from Pearl River to Montvale in 1978 and lived there until their deaths.

Johann was a model of a successful businesswoman working in a male-dominated industry. She was a natural leader and loved connecting with her clients in Europe, New England and the mid-West and working alongside other talented machinists.  Johann balanced having a demanding career with being a dedicated and loving mother and grandmother.  She visited her Canadian relatives for 2 weeks every year, and eventually purchased a home in the Laurentian mountains where she took her grandchildren every summer. She loved her German Shepherds and enjoyed traveling, shopping, yoga, playing pinochle, making jewelry, working in her yard and spending time with her family.  She was strong, creative and generous and had a whistle that could be heard throughout the neighborhood. She was well known for her gift-wrapping skills and making her friends feel like part of her family.

Johann is survived by her daughter (Suzanne G. Martin), her two grandchildren (Stephanie Elise Martin and Douglas Grisez Martin), her 4 great grandchildren (Madeleine Kelly Martin, Xavier Alexander Kelly, Henry Grisez Martin and Quinn Kennedy Martin) and 15 nieces and nephews.  Family members who died earlier include her husband (Maurice Grisez, 1927-2015), her 5 brothers (Robert, Walter, Gordon, Wallace, and Bruce Truesdale) and her sister (Treasa Biro).  

A celebration of Johann’s life will be held this spring.