Raymond E. McGrath, 86, former chairman of the board of Premier Engraving Co. of Chicago, died Thursday, Aug. 30, of liver cancer at his home in Solana Beach, Calif. He was born in Chicago and raised in Oak Park and graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1937. He served in the Army during World War II, rising to the rank of captain. While Mr. McGrath was stationed in Houston, he pitched in the armed forces baseball leagues, which included both amateur and professional players. In 1943, he married Madeleine Shannon, who died in 1973. Three years later, Mr. McGrath married Lilias Fraser Milne. He started as an errand boy for Premier Engraving and worked up into sales and management. The firm was a major supplier of photo engravings to advertising agencies throughout the United States and was an engraver for Sears Roebuck catalogs for more than 50 years. He was especially skilled in sales, his wife said. “He was very outgoing and very intuitive about how to deal with people,” she said. “He knew what people needed, he knew what they wanted and he knew what his limits were as to what he could give them.” In 1991, Mr. McGrath moved from Long Beach, Ind., where he had lived for many years, to the San Diego area. In addition to his wife, Mr. McGrath is survived by three daughters, Madeleine, Mary and Sarah; five sons, John, Jay, Raymond Michael, Roch and Matthew; a stepson, Graham MacLean; a stepdaughter, Dana Uchima; a sister, Ruth O’Keefe; nine grandchildren; and a stepgrandchild. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Notre Dame Catholic Church, 1010 Moore Rd., Long Beach, Ind.
