Across America, there are talented individuals who coin ideas and make them happen. Mrs. Marian McQuade, an 81-year-old mother of 15, grandmother to 40 and great-grandmother of 7 is one of these people. She has made many contributions to her town of Oak Hill, West Virginia, but she is best known, as founder of Grandparents' Day.

Mrs. McQuade's commitment to the elderly began as a young girl. "After working all day on the farm, my Grandma would walk off to visit elderly people of the community," Mrs. McQuade recalls. "I would tag along. I never forgot talking with those delightful people. That's where my love and respect for oldsters started."

Mrs. McQuade's concern sparked the idea of honoring the nation's grandparents. After 5 years of persistence, on May 27, 1973, the Governor of West Virginia, Arch Moore, declared Grandparents' Day a state celebration.

After success at state level, Mrs. McQuade, with the help of West Virginian State Senators Robert Byrd and Jennings Randolph, created a national observance of Grandparents' Day. In September of 1978, President Jimmy Carter, with unanimous congressional approval, designated the Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents' Day. The first official observance was in 1979.