Thursday, October 1, 2026
Grail Anne Therese McGinley lived each moment of her life with grace. Her friends and family say McGinley knew how to impart strength and inspire others to be their very best. McGinley appreciated life — its simple pleasures and beauty — and faced its challenges with a smile. “‘Chop wood, carry water,’ that’s what Grail used to say,” said Mary Coyne, a long-time friend. “Every day was a new day; Grail understood that. She was ready for the challenge.”
McGinley died on July 8. She was 56 years old. She, along with her husband, Tony McGinley, owned Runyon’s Bar and Restaurant in Seaford where they worked side-by-side for more than 30 years. Although McGinley lived in Amity Harbor, she was a big part of the Seaford community.
“She was a very giving person, and was always ready to give to any organization that asked for her help,” said Matthew Lisnoff, an employee at Runyon’s.
For more than 25 years, McGinley organized a Thanksgiving Day program that provided meals to the hungry. “Last year, we provided 1,250 meals from the Brooklyn border out to Riverhead,” Lisnoff said. “She spent months planning this event and organizing it. Grail was always here on Thanksgiving with all the volunteers to make sure those meals were delivered. Grail was so positive.”
She was born Grail Anne Therese Cumisky on Jan. 14, 1959, one of six children, and grew up in neighboring Massapequa. McGinley was “always in the restaurant business,” said Coyne.
“She worked at the White Whale and then came here,” Lisnoff said.
“Grail and Tony worked together and I guess he spotted that great personality,” Coyne added.
Grail and Tony McGinley were married on Oct. 4, 1986. They had two children, Mallieah and Casey. “They were partners in life. They lit up when they were with each other,” Coyne said. “Grail loved her husband and children like nobody’s business. And her children have so much of her in them.”
McGinley also had a deep sense of spirituality, friends said. “Grail took a holistic approach to life,” Lisnoff said.
“It wasn’t just food and healthy living, it was also about her inner life, how to live in the moment,” Coyne said.
One of McGinley’s favorite books was “The Uncertain Certainty” by Pema Chodron that explored McGinley’s beliefs. “There is a story about how a person hanging is on a vine,” Coyne said. “Above you and below you are these tigers and a mouse is chewing away at the vine. But you look over and see strawberries and you choose to eat one. Tigers above, tigers below, that’s life. Eat the strawberry; understand that each moment is what it is.”
Lisnoff described McGinley as “more than just a pretty woman. She knew how to be with people and she always had smile. And then there was her whistle — loud and clear. It got everybody’s attention in a noisy bar,” he said with a laugh.
“Yeah, she had the family whistle,” brother Kevin Cumisky said. “She was a warrior and brought to battle two special things — love and joy.”
In addition to her husband and two children, survivors include her brothers Paul, Jimmy, Kevin and Owen Cumisky, and her sister Anne.
Grail will be inducted into the Massapequa High School Hall of Fame this summer, “between Alec [Baldwin] and Jerry [Seinfeld],” joked Cumisky.
