Gene Grabeel

MS. GRABEEL'S MEMORIAL SERVICE HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR 1:00 P.M., WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015, AT BLACKSTONE BAPTIST CHURCH. Following the service, the family will receive friends in the church fellowship hall.


Gene Grabeel, age 94, of Blackstone, passed away on January 30, 2015.

She was born June 5, 1920 in Rose Hill, VA and was preceded in death by her parents, Curry and Nell Grabeel, and one sister, Gladys G. Grizzard of Kenbridge.

Ms. Grabeel is survived by two sisters, Rebecca G. Moore of Kingsport, TN, and Virginia G. Cole of Blackstone, and one brother, Dr. William Grabeel (Eleanor) of Gordonsville. She is also survived by nine nieces and nephews and their spouses, along with numerous great nieces and nephews and their children, all of whom she loved dearly. “Aunt Gene” held a special place in the hearts of her family members. She also leaves behind her caregiver and special friend, Shelly Jackson of Cumberland, who played an important part in the final chapter of Aunt Gene’s life.

Ms. Grabeel graduated from Mars Hill College and Farmville State Teachers College (now Longwood University), and became a home economics teacher in Madison Heights.

In 1943 she began a 36 year career with the Army Signal Service, which later became the National Security Agency. She was the first team member assigned to work on a top-secret counterintelligence campaign that would become known as the Venona Project. She spent the majority of her career with NSA trying to break and decipher Soviet codes as part of an effort to protect our nation’s nuclear secrets. Long after her retirement, when the Venona Project was declassified by the government and made public, Ms. Grabeel and her few surviving Venona team members were publically recognized by the CIA director as “American Heroes”, true patriots who worked in secret for decades, dedicating a great part of their lives to the defense of our nation.

Aunt Gene was a devout member of Blackstone Baptist Church, and also a proud and dedicated member of the DAR and 17th Century Colonial Dames.

Interment took place in Pennington Gap, VA, next to her parents.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Blackstone Baptist Church, 405 S. Main Street, Blackstone, VA 23824.

Services provided by Joseph McMillian Funeral Home, Blackstone.

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