Adelaide Victoria van Voorhees Grey of Florida Dies July 23

Adelaide Victoria van Voorhees Grey (“Tory”), 70, passed away unexpectedly at home in West Palm Beach, Florida on July 23rd, 2024.

She was born in Orange, New Jersey, the fourth of five children of Clifford Irving van Voorhees, Jr. and his wife Nancy Wickes Washburn.

Victoria attended Ecole Marie José, Henri Moser School and Montesano School, all in Gstaad, Switzerland. She then attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart School in Noroton, Connecticut, followed by Finch College in New York City.

Gifted with considerable musical talent, and a beautiful singing voice, she soon began to compose and write songs for causes to which she remained dedicated throughout her life. In 2002, she sang one of her songs, “Skies of Hope,” at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia, at a benefit for Innocence in Danger, an international charity created for the protection of children against all forms of violence and abuse.

Victoria was known for her overflowing energy, charm, spirituality and devotion to family, friends and social causes including American Humane for which she was an American Humane Ambassador.

She was delighted and proud to have arranged a CPR program at the Royal Poinciana Chapel and at the Bath and Tennis Club as part of the Palm Beach Fire Department’s “Save a Life Day.”

Tory was an enthusiastic member of the Meadow Club and the Bathing Corporation of Southampton, and the Bath and Tennis Club of Palm Beach.

Victoria married James Charles Grey (“Jimmy”) in Palm Beach, Florida in June 1984, at the church of Bethesda by The Sea. They settled in Manalapan, Florida, where they welcomed their daughters, Serena (“Gale”) Grey and Christina (“Nina”) Grey. The family moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1996, where Victoria sang in the choir and taught Sunday school at the “Eglise Anglaise” of Lausanne. In 2012, Victoria and James moved back to Palm Beach. On her mother’s side, Victoria was a descendant of William Washbourne, a patentee of Hempstead, L.I. in 1647, and one of the purchasers of Oyster Bay, L.I., from the Matinecock Indians in 1653, and of the Philbin family of New York, which included Judge Stephen A. Philbin of the Appellate Division First Department, as well as his son, Judge Eugene A. Philbin, who was instrumental in creating Central Park, in New York City.

A deeply spiritual woman, Victoria was proud of her mother’s religious lineage, being a member of the de Got family of France, which included Bertrand de Got, a collateral descendant, who was Clement V (1305-1314), the first pope of Avignon, France, under King Philip IV. On her father’s side, she was a direct descendent of Patrick Henry, a founding father of the United States, and his wife, Dorothea Dandridge. As well, she was a descendant of Henrietta Macauley Parker, founder of The Francis E. Parker Home in New Brunswick, NJ for people suffering from chronic illness, one of the first such homes in the country.

Tory was predeceased by her parents and her younger brother, Peter Cortland van Voorhees, to whom she was devoted. She is survived by her daughters Gale and Nina Grey of Palm Beach, Florida, her brother Clifford I. van Voorhees of Darien, Connecticut, her sister Sona van Voorhees Reese of West Palm Beach, and her brother Roger W. van Voorhees of Fairfield, Connecticut. She is also survived by six nieces and nephews.

Memorial services will be announced shortly. In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Tory van Voorhees Grey may be made to American Humane, Innocence in Danger or the Parker Home at Landing Lane.