James A. Grundy, 81, insurer of classic cars

James A. Grundy, 81, formerly of Riverton, retired owner of an insurance agency for car collectors, died of Alzheimer's disease Friday at Manor Care in Towson, Md.

Mr. Grundy graduated from Lower Merion High School. During World War II, he served in the Army in the Philippines and Korea.

After his discharge, he worked for an insurer in Philadelphia, then established his firm in Jenkintown in the mid-1950s. He began to specialize in policies for classic cars after his father-in-law, Sam Baily, a collector, said the policies would be profitable because the cars were valuable and unlikely to be damaged in accidents.

Mr. Grundy retired 10 years ago. His son, James Jr., runs the agency, Grundy Worldwide, now in Horsham.

Like his father-in-law, Mr. Grundy collected antique cars, and his yellow 1929 Packard coupe placed first in a competition in England.

He adopted another of Baily's hobbies: hunting and trapping in the Pennsylvania mountains. "My mother, grandmother and I all had fur coats from beaver my grandfather, father and brother trapped," said Mr. Grundy's daughter, Patty Andreen. She said her father had hunted with a bow as well as a rifle.

Mr. Grundy also collected antique furniture and clocks and was a member of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors.

He skippered a 50-foot sloop in races off Bermuda, Nova Scotia and New Jersey and on the Chesapeake, and he belonged to several yacht clubs.

Mr. Grundy and his wife, Patricia Baily Grundy, married in 1948 after meeting on a blind date. They raised two children in Huntingdon Valley and summered in Cape May for many years. Later they lived in Riverton. For the last 16 years they lived in Easton, Md.

In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Grundy is survived by a sister and seven grandchildren.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the Stuard Funeral Home, 104 Cricket Ave., Ardmore. Burial will be in Morris Cemetery, Phoenixville.