Grace Harting Madole was born in Wappingers Falls, a village in Dutchess County, New York, on the 14th of January 1896 to Christopher Harting, a house painter, and May, or Mary, Harting, a homemaker. She had no siblings. Christopher Harting, who had emigrated from Germany as a young child, died in Wappingers Falls in 1909 when Grace was just 12 years old.
Grace married James Madole, a French-born engineer and U.S. Coast Guard officer. They had one child together, James H. Madole, born in Massachusetts in 1927. The Madoles' separated and divorced not long afterwards.
Grace and her son James lived together for the rest of their lives, moving between New York City and Dutchess County, New York. Grace worked mostly as a bookeeper for life insurance companies, while James devoted his life to the National Renaissance Party, a neo-fascist group he founded in 1949 and headquartered in the Madole home. James served as director and leader of the organization, while Grace served as secretary. The Madoles' were the subject of an FBI undercover investigation which is now publically available as a result of the Freedom of Information Act.
James H. Madole died of cancer in 1979 and is buried in Brooklyn, New York. Grace attempted to keep the National Renaissance Party active after her son's death but interest in the group had faded.
Grace Madole died on the 14th of July 1981 and was buried on Hart Island on the 21st of September 1981.
