Grace Davey Moran

Grace Davey Moran

July 22, 1937 – August 10, 2026

Grace Davey Moran, a resident of Rockville Centre, N.Y. for 64 years, and a pillar of Nassau County's legal community, passed away on August 10, 2026. She was 89.

Grace was born on July 22, 1937, the oldest of eight children of Joseph and Mary Davey. She grew up in Belle Harbor, Queens, alongside her siblings Thomas, Mary Noel, Joseph, Eileen, William, James, and Denis.

Grace graduated from Our Lady of Wisdom Academy (Ozone Park, Queens) and Fordham University. In 1958, she married Eugene J. Moran of Park Slope, Brooklyn, and moved to Rockville Centre in 1962 where they raised seven children. She entered St. John’s Law School in 1975. She graduated and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1978 at the age of 40, a milestone she credited to the support of her loving husband Gene, an accomplished attorney, and the discipline it took to complete three demanding years of law school while raising a large family.

Grace built a career devoted to the legal profession and its ethical standards. She began her legal career in public service and became the first woman to serve as Chief Counsel to the Grievance Committee for the 10th Judicial District, investigating and prosecuting complaints against attorneys and working to uphold the lawyer’s code of professional responsibility. She served as a Director of the Women's Bar Association, an organization founded decades earlier by women attorneys who had been excluded from the Nassau County Bar Association.

In 1994, Grace made history when she was installed as the first female President of the Nassau County Bar Association which she credited to the generations of women who preceded her. As President, she focused on modernizing the practice of law and improving the public image of the legal profession at a time of significant change.

Following her retirement from the Grievance Committee in 2002, Grace joined her daughter’s law firm, Moran Karamouzis LLP, where she focused her practice on professional responsibility and legal ethics. In 2017, the Nassau County Bar Association awarded her its Distinguished Service Medallion, an award that had previously been given to U.S. Presidents, U.S. Supreme Court Justices and governors of New York.

Grace was deeply involved in her Rockville Centre community. She was an active member of St. Agnes Parish and especially its Parish Outreach Program. She served as a director of Winthrop and South Nassau Hospitals for many years. She also served as president of the Hewitt School PTA, held office with the Council of PTAs, worked with CONFIDE and the Cerebral Palsy Association and in recent years volunteered with the De La Salle School in Freeport.

Grace was predeceased by her parents, Joseph and Mary Davey; her husband, Eugene; her son, James; and her sister, Mary Noel Botting.

She is survived by her children Siobhan (Andrew Karamouzis), Mark (Theresa), Greg (Christine), Brian (Kathleen), Matthew (Jennifer), and Colin (Christine), as well as 22 cherished grandchildren and three cherished great-grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Friday, August 14, 2026, at 10:45 a.m. at St. Agnes Cathedral, 29 Quealy Place, Rockville Centre, NY 11570.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Grace's memory to The De La Salle School, 87 Pine Street, Freeport, NY 11520, (516) 379-8660 https://delasalleschool.org/