Event Chair Selected for Rockland's Walk to End Alzheimer's

From Alzheimers Association: “I think about him and how Alzheimer's robbed him of his memories and relationships every day. I miss him terribly,” said Nanuet resident Siobhan O’Grady of her father, who died from Alzheimer’s disease in 2013. “I will do everything in my power to help in any way I can to stop this disease for future generations.”

The Alzheimer’s Association Hudson Valley Chapter recently announced that Nanuet resident O’Grady will serve as committee chair for the 2017 Rockland County Walk to End Alzheimer’s. It is O’Grady’s second time as chair for the walk, set for Sunday, Oct. 8, at Provident Bank Ball Park, Home of the Rockland Boulders, at 1 Provident Bank Park Drive in Pomona.

O’Grady said she became involved with the committee as a way of giving back to the Alzheimer’s Association, which provided critical services to her family during her father’s battle with dementia.

“We were able to get my mother involved in the caregiver support groups, and I honestly feel that it saved her life,” O’Grady said. Her father was diagnosed following a quintuple bypass and experienced a rapid decline. “My father had a massive heart attack and open-heart surgery in January 2009, and it propelled him forward to the end stages of Alzheimer’s. He forgot our names and who we were relatively quickly after his diagnosis. He was bedridden starting in August of 2012. We were able to keep him home with home-care aids and hospice all the way to his passing. He died on his 69th birthday, March 29, 2013.”

O’Grady became an attorney in 2004 and has worked in public interest law positions ever since. She started as a prosecutor in the Bronx, and now works for the Unified Court System in New City.

The Alzheimer’s Association Hudson Valley Chapter is looking for volunteers to help O’Grady by serving on the walk organizing committee. A Walk Committee Orientation for people interested in getting involved will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at Nanuet Public Library at 149 Church St. in Nanuet. Those planning to attend can RSVP by clicking the link at the page on the Rockland Walk to End Alzheimer’s website, RocklandWalk.org. Those with questions may contact Walk Manager Karen Finnegan at

914.839.0684 or kfinnegan@alz.org.

The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Last year, the Hudson Valley Chapter’s five walks raised more than $1 million. The event began in 1989 as the Memory Walk; now the Alzheimer’s Association continues to lead the way with the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Start or join a Walk to End Alzheimer’s team today by visiting HudsonValleyWalks.org or call 800.272.3900.

The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s research, care and support. Its mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Its vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. Visit www.alz.org/hudsonvalley or call 800.272.3900.

Photo: Siobhan O’Grady and her father. Photo Courtesy of The Alzheimer’s Association