GRANT BARNITZ HERING

Grant Barnitz Hering, age 88, of New York, NY, passed away on May 8, 2025, after a lengthy illness due to stroke.

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Grant was the youngest of four siblings in a family that valued intellect, athleticism, and civic duty. At Wilmington's Tower Hill School, he co-captained the football and baseball teams. As a youth, Grant followed his brother George to Camp Dudley on Lake Champlain, where he took full advantage of sports and acquired leadership skills later as a camp counselor. Grant went on to Harvard College, graduating in 1958, and earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1961. He later obtained his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 1967.

During a weekend engagement party in fall 1960, Grant was introduced to Katrina Van Valkenburgh, a fellow Delaware native and graduate of Smith College. Grant and Katrina married in 1962, settling in New York city and then Pelham, NY to raise their three children. They later moved back into Manhattan and split their time between the city and Quogue, NY.

A large part of Grant's charm was his genuine warmth and love for people. He acquired and cherished a rich collection of friends and acquaintances and adored spending time with friends and family. In his college years, his happiest retreats were visits to his sister Betsy in Cambridge, where he relished the joyful chaos of her household of six children. He was a deeply involved father, uncle and informal mentor to many, always curious and patient, with a wonderful recall in the details of their lives. He loved engaging his family and friends in meaningful conversations, underscored by his warmth, humor and deep intellect. As a grandfather, he remained full of love and devotion and clearly missed not being able to spend more time cheering on his grandchildren in all their activities. Under his full, bushy eyebrows, his eyes would twinkle with pride and delight in seeing or hearing about the various accomplishments and stories of his family and loved ones.

A student of history and the law, Grant was an avid reader and admirer of many who served in the court and in government. During his later years, after he had lost his ability to read from his stroke, he asked his children to read him newspaper articles, sports team updates, and passages from favorite books. A stickler for correct grammar and punctuation, Grant was known to correct the grammar of his caregivers, who responded to this unsolicited advice with amusement, knowing his intentions were sincere.

In 2011, Grant married Virginia Marie Henneberry. They spent many joyful years together in Manhattan and Chatham, NY, with Virginia's beloved Labrador Retriever Brooklyn, their three cats, and a myriad other furry friends.

Grant first joined Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in 1961 and returned as a partner in 1969 following his tenure as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He became Cadwalader's General Counsel in 1996.

To paraphrase Cadwalader partners Greg Petrick and Pat Quinn:

"Grant was, in every sense, a Cadwalader institution. His career at the Firm spanned more than 50 years, during which he played nearly every role imaginable: litigator, advisor, general counsel, ethics expert, educator, administrator, mentor, steward, historian, and above all, a trusted friend and wise counselor to generations of Cadwalader lawyers. He mentored countless attorneys, taught legal ethics and law firm risk management with grace and clarity, and served as a key voice in the legal ethics community both in New York and nationally.

Grant's contributions are legion. His skills, personality, charm and perseverance were captured when Grant was called to mediate complex matters. Grant was economic in words and advocacy, relying on his relationships to draw partners to come to the right result for the firm. Our memories of Grant are a tribute to the legacy he left to the Firm of being a role model for what it means to be 'a good partner' in the best tradition of Cadwalader."

Grant demonstrated his commitment to public service as a Town Councilman for Pelham, NY, a Vestry member at Christ Church, and as an enthusiastic Cub Scout Leader for his local den, whose members included his eldest son Michael. In later years, he was excited to become involved in "Room to Read," an organization devoted to literacy.

Grant is survived by his three children, Michael, Jennifer, and Christopher, their spouses, Elizabeth, Paul, and Sarah; his AFS son in Japan, Estuo Doi, his five grandchildren Grace, Caleb, Annaliese, Samuel and Selina, his first wife Katrina Van Valkenburgh Hering, and his many nieces and nephews.

Grant was predeceased by his second wife Virginia, and his three siblings, George Clark Hering III, Elizabeth (Betsy) Gardner, and Jane Hering Kennedy.

Grant's children wish to acknowledge all the caregivers who assisted in Grant's care after his stroke, in particular Lita Manapet, who looked after Grant in Manhattan and Chatham, NY for over a decade, and Leon Dante and Lorraine Thomas, who took loving care of Grant in Mamaroneck, NY.

A Memorial service for Mr. Grant B. Hering will be held on Friday, September 5th at 1:00pm at St. James Church, 865 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021. A reception will immediately follow at the church.