In 1933, she married Arthur L. Grey and moved to Chicago; the couple had three children, including linguist Sarah Thomason.
From 1943 to 1946, she was put in charge of the Fish Division at the museum on an unpaid basis while curator Loren P. Woods served in the Navy during World War II.
She learned Russian so that she could read literature on ichthyology in that language, also translating papers for colleagues.
In 1953, she presented a paper at the International Congress of Zoology in Copenhagen.
[2] In 1967 George C. Miller posthumously honored her contribution to the knowledge of bathydemersal and benthic fishes in the specific name of the armored sea robin Peristedion greyae.