Ray (Raymond) Grant

Ray (Raymond) Grant passed away peacefully at Winchester Memorial Hospital on Sunday December 10, 2017.

Beloved husband of Jackie Grant (nee Rushton), Ray was loving father of Whitnie Beckstead (son in law Lenny), son Stephen Grant, of Iroquois, and Jason and Stephanie (Grant) Mackenzie of Kingston, Ontario. He was proud grandfather of Tyler Beckstead of Iroquois and to grandchildren and great grandchildren of Kingston Ontario.

He is survived by sisters-in-law Joan Clark, (Gordon) of St. Stephens NB, Lois Coleman (Gary) of Courtenay B.C and Deni Rushton (David) of Oxford Nova Scotia, as well as many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents Alfred and Lois Grant, brother Ronald and sister Susan (Palmer).

Ray was born in Prince Rupert moved many times during his early years as his father was in the armed forces. At age 17 he became a professional athlete. Ray went to Olympic trials in 1964 for gymnastics in the province of BC. He became professional firefighter (1967-1976) in Dartmouth NS. Ray continued to help when he moved to Iroquois and became a volunteer firefighter for the Iroquois Fire Department where he served for 25 years.

He was a self-employed sign painter for over 25 years. He produced many outstanding signs from Kingston to Cornwall for many local businesses. Retiring from sign business 1998, he moved forward and started his own janitorial business from 1998- 2017 for Royal Bank and Ross Video.

Ray loved camping, fishing, curling, traveling, gardening, and bird watching. And, of course watching sports. His favourite sports teams were the Toronto Maple Leafs and Blue Jays. He was also a NASCAR fan. Ray’s love for his family and friends and his home was extremely important to him.

Ray chose not to have a funeral but left the following message: I want to express my thanks to all my friends, family and extended family who have enriched my life by their loving friendship, wisdom, humour and especially our grandson Buddy (Tyler) who brought such joy into our family. Don’t cry for me we will be back together.

Cremation has taken place. A private family interment service will be held at Oxford Pine Grove, NS., at a later date.

Donations to Winchester and District Memorial Hospital and Canadian Cancer society would be gratefully acknowledged by the family. Online condolences may be made at marsdenmclaughin.com.

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