LITTLE ROCK — At first glance, John P. McGrail was a typical Irish Catholic kid, running the streets in a rough Pittsburgh neighborhood. But when he sang, he broke that mold.
“He was a fighter, but if he opened his mouth, it was like an angel,” said his daughter, Colleen McGrail. “He had a rare gift.”
McGrail, of Hot Springs Village, died Monday at Mercy Hospital in Hot Springs from complications regarding congestive heart failure.
He was 77.
Described as an “Irishtenor,” McGrail used his talent to stay out of trouble by singing in the church choir and performing in musicals, said his son, Dennis McGrail.
“He had a terrible stuttering problem as a child, but it never affected his singing,”his son said. “It was a gift that transcended his body.”
However, he never quite looked the part of the choir boy.
“He was the epitome of what you’d think of the ’50s teenager, like from West Side Story - leather jacket, cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve, hair slicked back,” his daughter said.
McGrail eventually became a vice president of marketing for Alcoa Inc. However, even in recent years he was drawn to the stage - writing, producing and acting with the Hot Springs Village Players, his family said.
In 1972, McGrail and his family moved to Little Rock, where he helped those in need.
“He took great pride in being a fighting Irish,” his son said. “That was almost a redundancy to him, a fighting Irishman.”
With his twinkling blue eyes under white, bushy eyebrows, McGrail gladly filled the role of St. Nick for about 10 years at local churches and schools.
“He would hear kids ask for things, and knowing the backgrounds of some of the kids’ families, he’d get gifts and take them to the principal ... to make sure those kids got it,” Dennis McGrail said. “He kept the suit in his car, it was like he was on call. He’d leave a meeting atAlcoa to be Santa at some kindergarten.”
McGrail became golf committee chairman at Pleasant Valley Country Club, where he enjoyed thecamaraderie.
“He used to say that [golf is about] ‘the stories, the lies, the jokes and the beer afterwards,’” his son said. “He used to joke and say when he died to spread his ashes on the No. 1 tee box so he could look up and laugh at all his buddies teeing off.”
Even after moving to Hot Springs Village in 2001, he was active as a golf course marshal but skipped the beer.
Though only a “casual and social drinker,” he became a proud member of Alcoholics Anonymous in the early 1980s, his daughtersaid.
“He always said he didn’t know what the second ‘A’ in Alcoholics Anonymous stood for. He was very proud of his involvement,” his son said. “He would sponsor anyone who needed a sponsor.He’d get phone calls day or night ... and be there for that person.”
Every Monday, McGrail still attended the men’s Solutions Group in Little Rock, which he helped start, and never had another sip of alcohol.
“He could serve drinks to his friends; he’d never even lick his fingers,” Colleen McGrail said.
As life went on, McGrail’s tenor voice never wavered. Countless families celebrated the happiness of a new marriage and bore the sorrow of burying a loved one to the sound of McGrail’s voice. However, he was hardly a “wedding singer,” his daughter said.
“He’d sing for any denomination. He sang in church during the service,” Colleen McGrail said. “It touched people’s lives.”
McGrail always refused payment for his performances, saying, “God would not want him to receive money for that gift,” his son said.
In 1996, McGrail gave an off-the-cuff rendition of his signature song, “Danny Boy”, in a pub in Ireland.
“That was like being home for him,” his son said. “My mom said there were these big, burly Irish people in this pub and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”
But it was McGrail’s last performance of “Danny Boy” in his hospital room days before his death that his family will never forget.
“He mouthed the words, he couldn’t sing it,” Colleen McGrail said. “He was sharp until his last breath.”
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 12/20/2012