William "Blair" Grant

William Blair Grant passed away peacefully at his home in Glace Bay, on May 10th, 2020 surrounded by
family.

Born in Glace Bay on October 30th, 1932, he was predeceased by his parents Mary (Stevenson) Grant
and Harold Dolman Grant.

He graduated from Morrison Glace Bay High School in 1950. He went on to get an accounting degree
while working for the Bank of Nova Scotia in various places including Toronto, Jamaica, and Halifax.
He met his wife Gloria (Tutty) in 1955 and they were married on June 28th,1958.They had four
children. After the children were grown Mom and Dad traveled all over the world and shared many memories in their later years.Blair was very well-read and enjoyed telling us stories about what he was reading. He was the best
history teacher we kids had. He enjoyed a good game of tarbish, chess or cribbage. He could often be
found fishing the rivers of Cape Breton with his fly rod. He especially loved the time spent fishing with
his son Calvin, and his grandchildren. (There were many a school class, he spent time absent, with a rod
in hand)
He was a member of Search and Rescue and served in many capacities for 45 years. He volunteered
with the Red Cross helping in disaster relief in Canada and internationally.
He was a member of the Army Reserve and Branch 3 Royal Canadian Legion. He was an active member
of Saint Mary’s Anglican Church and served as treasurer for a number of years.
Until health prevented him from doing so, he never missed a single blood donor clinic.
Our father taught us, by example, about the important things in life. Be kind! Help those in need,
including stray people and animals. (There was always room for one more! ) Be accepting of others and
never judge. Be grateful for the small blessings in life. Dad always saw the best in people.
He was gifted with the art of storytelling and often made us laugh with stories from days gone by. He
could recite the Cremation of Sam McGee from memory.
He was a proud Scotsman and loved to go to events in his kilt. He enjoyed good Scotch (Glenfiddich was his favorite), Celtic music; especially bagpipe music. Karleen and Jonathan took him to his last Robbie Burns dinner in January past. What an honor this was!
Blair lived a rich and full life and leaves behind a legacy of wonderful memories. He is survived by his wife of 64 years Gloria Mae (Tutty) Grant and his four children: Karleen Booth (Jonathan) McMinnville, OR, USA; Calvin Blair Grant (Ernestine) River Ryan, Cape Breton; Louise Grant, Glace Bay N.S. and Donna (Grant) Mailmen, North Sydney, N.S. He has eight grandchildren, Liam (Nadia) Batten, Burnaby BC; Rylan (Leslie) Batten,California, USA; Levi Batten (California, USA), Kelsey Danielson (Tokyo, Japan), Ashley Grant (River Ryan, Cape Breton), Tyler (Samantha) Grant, Halifax, NS; Stephen (Erica) Mailmen, Dominion, Cape Breton; and Rebecca (Brandon) Mailmen, Halifax, NS.
He was predeceased by his sister and brother in law, Ina and Ernie Frederickson, brother in law Jim Mapes and grandson Precious Patty. He was also predeceased by sister-in-law Jean ( Burfatto) Tutty.
He is survived by his sisters, Joyce Mapes (Colorado Springs, CO, USA) and Lynda (Bill) McKenzie,
(Sherwood Park, AB).
“Uncle Blair,” as he was affectionately called, had nine nieces and nephews. Mary Yeager (Kelowna B.C.);
Carol & Scott Weir (Edmonton Alta.); Raun Fredrickson, Jim Mapes, and Don Mapes, (Colorado USA);
Scott and Grant MacKenzie (Sherwood Park, Alta) and Kara MacKenzie (Chesterville, On); Melvin MacDonald ( Glace Bay, N.S.); Derek
MacDonald (Sydney, N.S.); Cherie Tutty Proctor (Ont.) and Gord Tutty ( Ont.)
The family wishes to thank the doctors and nurses of the Glace Bay Hospital and Cape Breton Regional
Hospital and the VON nurses and palliative care doctors and nurses who came to the house in these last
few weeks. Many people have helped our parents over these past months. “Thank you”, to all of you. We would especially like to thank our Aunt Barbara and Uncle Alex who has been a tremendous source of help and friendship to our parents. Dad (Uncle Blair), made this world a better place. He will be missed by many friends and his family.
A celebration of life will be held at a date to be later announced. Donations in his memory can be made to Saint Mary's Anglican Church or Branch 3 Legion, both in Glace Bay. Cremation Services will be provided by Forest Haven Memorial Garden.
Expressions of sympathy may be sent to www.foresthaven.ca