When and where were you born and raised?
I was born in New London, Connecticut. We lived in Old Saybrook, Connecticut in my early years.
I'm the oldest of the children. There were two younger brothers and a brother who died when he was three months of whooping cough. My mother's sister died during an influenza epidemic and left a young son; they raised her son. He was my “older brother,” so in reality I grew up with three brothers. It was an interesting household.
What did your parents do?
Both my parents came from very progressive, hardworking families. There was a very real hard work ethic in our family. My father's family can be traced back to the Mayflower; my mother's parents came from Switzerland and Germany.
My mother grew up in a family that had bakeries and she was my grandfather's right hand gal… [Laughs] When we were young, we were very popular at school. The bakery trucks had a route near my school and I would treat my friends with donuts and cookies. My father owned tire stores and garages. And he was always very politically active.
What were you like as a child?
I think I must have been a talker. My report card from kindergarten said that I was bright, but that I chose to talk whenever I felt like it. And that's never, ever stopped. As I got older, I swam a lot and rode my bike and played outside. There were high expectations for all of us [children]. I was in Brownies and Girl Scouts and I volunteered at the local hospital. My brothers did a lot of volunteering in the community. That was a big expectation in our family.
In school, I liked art and English, and I always had a book in my hand or on my lap, many times when I shouldn't have.
There was a hodge-podge of religions in our family…so I went to many different churches, and I choose my own religion when I was about 10. I chose Catholicism. I realize now that was a very modern and progressive thing to be able to do and I was able to do it because my mother was a “thoroughly modern Milly.”
You were a young child during the Depression. What do you remember about those years.
I don't remember being “in need,” or about hardships. There was a big [extended] family and we took care of one another. But some things do stand out. I remember a widow I knew who was making patterns for children's clothing – from bolts of cloth that would be delivered to her. Today, she would have been a designer. There was a community sewing room, over the town's fire department, and that's where the clothes were made. And I remember my father, who worked for the City of Waterford [Connecticut] sitting at home working out WPA [Works Progress Administration] assignments based on how many there were in a family, how many were being supported by that man's or that woman's work…This was a difficult time, but it was also a time when there was a lot of community building, too.
You came of age during World War II. What do you remember about the war years?
We had Coast Guard, army, navy, air force and marine bases in the area, so New London was a “military” town. That made me very aware of the war, and of the losses that were due to the war. We saw so many young men go off to war and not come back. And, as a naval center, we were always aware of the fact that our town was a primary bombing target. Everyone had blackout shades on the windows in their house and when I was in high school I was a plane spotter. My job was to call in from different towers when planes flew over.
When you graduated from high school, did you go to college or work?
I went to a wonderful, all-girls school, and to this day, I believe in girls' schools 100%. The focus on studies and education was excellent and the competition was tremendous.
I was interested in art and photography – in the afternoons after school I worked for a photography studio – so after I graduated I went to a photography school in New York City, on 7 th Avenue. The company I worked for was also the largest photographic company in the US , and it had studios in major department stores all over the country and in resort hotels. Taking pictures was my first love, but I also liked the marketing and management aspects so I switched to the business side… Eventually, I began doing troubleshooting and “shopping” the studios in various department stores for the company. Because I understood everything about the company, I wrote up very complete “incident” reports. Troubleshooting was never dull.
What brought you to Cleveland and when did you move here?
My husband Bill's job brought us to Cleveland. He was a submarine officer stationed in New London , Connecticut , and I met him at the Officer's Club. My husband called himself a 90 day wonder as he went from Princeton to a Navy commission. When we married [in 1946] and he got out of the service, we moved to up-state New York, where he was from and he went to work for Crucible Steel Company, the oldest tool steel company in the country; he was a metallurgist. Eventually he got into the sales end of the business. First the company moved us to Philadelphia. Then, we came to Cleveland in 1954 because he was going to be servicing TRW, which was Crucible's largest account.
We stayed because he did very well and we both liked the area. For the first couple of weeks, we lived at The Statler [Hotel], then, friends who became like parents to us, told us about The Alcazar in Cleveland Heights . We lived there several months before we found an apartment on Van Aken [Blvd.] near Shaker Square. Bill loved apartment living so we were in that apartment for 12 years. Then we moved to our house in Solon.
When and how did you become interested in politics?
I grew up in a part of the nation where “town” politics have always been important. My father was very political and it was very important to him that all of us [children] understood the political system and appreciated the God given rights of voting we [Americans] had, so I've always been very politically involved. When we came here, I was still doing some work for American Photographic Corporation – working during busy times such as Easter or Christmas – and I volunteered for gubernatorial or presidential campaigns, and worked very hard for candidates.
For a long time, I was the most involved woman in the Republican Party in Cuyahoga County . I loved working with the people of Northeast Ohio . I think people in this area are very friendly, very open, very nice.
The year you turned 58, you were elected to the Ohio State Senate. Most people would have been thinking about retiring. What made you decide to go into politics?
I'd worked on many campaigns, and I knew many people locally and in Columbus who were “in” politics, but I'd never thought of running for office. An important position for the [Republican] party came up – [Senator] Ben Skall was going to Washington as Deputy Director to Director Pierce of HUD in 1984.
Ben asked me to replace him in the Senate. I laughed, but he told me to think about it. The next day, in a Christmas card note, a friend told me that if I was ever thinking about running for office, this was the time. When my husband saw that note, he said “Go down to Columbus and talk…You have worked hard for others who promised to do certain things and those things didn't get done. Why not be there on the front line and do it yourself?”
I talked to the County Party Chairperson and then I went to Columbus and talked to senate leaders about the position. When Ben left to go to Washington in May of 1984, I was named his replacement. From then till the election in November I campaigned – I was everywhere – and I won the 22 nd District by a 2 to 1 vote. That's the year the Republican Party took the lead in the Senate and has retained it ever since. The 22 nd District was the most Democratic district of the 33 districts in the state.
You've been “in” politics since long before you were elected to the Ohio State Senate. Do you see a difference between being a public servant and serving the public?
Not really. The difference is in who you are representing. Your constituency is the whole state, not just your family or your community. Families are affected. The scrutiny for the family is the same as being a school principal or minister or rabbi. Your family is living in a big fish bowl. If you don't have your family's support, you can't do this. My husband and daughter were wonderful support. They worked hard for me – rode in parades, made speeches and attended events for me when I could not attend.
When you were Senator, you were very involved in issues related to health, human services and aging. Why did you do so much in those areas?
Ben Skall had a lot to do with that. He was always interested in and involved in those issues. When I stepped into his unexpired term [May of 1984], I took his place on the committees he was on… These were issues that I felt were important, too, because so much was happening in those areas. I was also involved in other areas, especially small business development and agriculture. I represented all of Medina County and all of Wayne County , and a portion of Cuyahoga County , and because there was so much diversity in my district…those were issues that impacted the people I represented and the people of the state as a whole.
When you left the Senate in 2000 – due to term limits – you created the Ohio Center for the Advancement of Women in Public Service at Cleveland State University. What led you – again, when most people would be thinking about “retirement” – to carve out a new career in the academic world?
I was one of the first people in the Senate to be affected by the new term limits law, and I felt that women who were thinking of careers in public service were going to be very affected, negatively, by it.
[The Center] is a professional development center – many women who are doing programs here have been out in the real world, they know what they want – and its major purpose is to help them achieve their goals...To do that, I'm using the relationships I brought with me when I came to CSU to start the Center.
The thing I'm most proud of is the mentoring the Center does and the outcomes we are seeing – especially the growth in self-esteem – for the program's participants. When the person who is the mentor is so impressed that they hire the person they are mentoring, that's frosting on the cake. This is not an expectation of the program, but it is a pleasant surprise.
…Mentoring isn't something new for me. It's something I've always done. The first year Bill and I were married I was leading a Brownie troop and a Cub Scout troop. And Bill was very involved, too, with Boy Scouts. He was an Eagle Scout.
You have had, and continue to have in “retirement,” an incredibly full and active life. Where do you get all the energy?
I've always had a lot of energy. My parents were both hyper – especially my mother – and I get that from them.
[Chuckles] But I've learned what's important, too. I get a lot accomplished because I prioritize things and I'm a planner. Today I'm consciously planning what I do so that I save time and maximize energy. For example, I don't walk out to the mailbox for the paper or mail, I drive. That gives me the energy for the things I want to do.
In anyone's book you'd be classified as a successful ager. What's your definition of successful aging?
Aging is something we all do, but a person's age has never really meant anything to me. It's not something I'm consciously thinking about – someone else's or mine. I've been around people in their early 20s who are “old” and I've been around people in their 70s and 80s and 90s who aren't. They are alive, active, involved. It's these people, as I was growing up, who set my view of what aging is.
But to answer your question, I think successful aging means you are comfortable in your own skin. I'm comfortable in my skin and so was my husband. That comfort probably has a lot to do with the way I feel about aging and the fact that my age doesn't limit or bother me. [Chuckles] In May I fell and fractured a vertebrae in my upper spine. That slowed me down, some, and that bothers me.
Are you doing anything on a regular basis to ensure you are aging successfully? In other words, what are Grace Drake's rules for successful aging?
I already mentioned being comfortable with who you are. Another: Stay active. That's my main priority. And, be good about seeing the doctor. I listen to the doctor and I do what they tell me to. [Chuckles] But I'm not entirely happy with how the medical system and healthcare have changed. Now, for everything, you must go to so many different specialists. That boggles my mind.
If you could be remembered for only one thing you have accomplished, what would it be?
That's a tough question. For me, I think it would have to be that I've left the earth in better shape, that I played a part, small though it was, in making things better for those who are going to come after me. I'm not talking about making it easier for them, because that's not always a good thing for them or society, but I am talking about making things better.
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