Grant William Perreault

Grant was born on April 26, 1976 to Dennis and Judy Perreault, the youngest of three children.

He was born and raised in Fort Frances and Couchiching. He lived in a few different cities and towns for either his hockey career, for school, or for work—Kenora, Morden (Manitoba), and Bemidji (Minnesota).

From early on, Grant's passion for hockey was apparent. He put his first pair of skates on at the age of three and he took off from there! Throughout his life, he played at various levels of hockey and for different organizations: Fort Frances Minor Hockey's travelling teams from Atom through Bantam, the 'AAA' Kenora Thistles (Midget), the MJHL Winkler Flyers, and Bemidji State University.

Once his career as a hockey player was complete, he continued to share his love of hockey through coaching, most recently as the assistant coach and assistant general manager of the SIJHL's Fort Frances Lakers.

Grant held a variety of jobs throughout his life, including at Young Star House, as a counsellor at Red Lake (Minnesota) High School, and, most recently, at the United Native Friendship Centre's Akwe:go program.

It is no coincidence that many of his jobs involved working with children as helping children was another passion.

When he wasn't playing or coaching or watching hockey, he enjoyed playing golf and watching baseball, “March Madness,” and football, especially the Vikings.

Spending time with his children was of utmost importance to him. He enjoyed watching Abbi play sports. With Wyatt, he liked to go to arcades and go swimming. He also enjoyed going to baseball games with Tori when she was younger.

As his illness progressed, he enjoyed spending more time with family members and friends—travelling to casinos with his mom and his auntie, Ann, going for drives and to mini amusement parks with Deidre, chirping Wayne, watching his nephew play minor hockey, and Face Timing or messaging with cousins. He also had a fascination with watching planes take off and land.

Grant is survived by his beloved children, Abbigail, Wyatt, and Tori (Mike); mother, Judy Perreault; brother and sister-in-law, Doug and Shannon Perreault (Tyler, Justin, and Brendin); sister and brother-in-law, Denise and Mark Radigan (Sydney and Koda); special partner, Deidre Morneau (Keifer, Logan, and Zane); aunts and uncles, Annabelle, Genevieve, Glenn, Pauline, Greg, Raymond, Mary, Joey, and Verna; numerous cherished cousins; and numerous treasured friends.

He was predeceased by his dad, Dennis; grandparents, Sam and Maggie Jourdain, and George and Teresa Perreault; aunts and uncles, Douglas, “Duke,” Russell, Bill, Riley, Wilf, and Linda; and cousins, Jeffery, Timothy, Nathan, and Katie.

Visitation will be held at Green Funeral Home in Fort Frances on Tuesday, April 4 from 2-4 p.m. and at 6 p.m., with parish prayers being offered at 7 p.m.

A funeral mass will be held Wednesday, April 5 at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church at Couchiching First Nation.

The pallbearers will be Wayne Strachan, Muff Allen, Dale Cooper, Dwayne Sinclair, Chris Sinclair, and Jon Cooper.

The honourary pallbearers will be the Fort Frances Lakers.

At Grant's request, cremation will take place, followed by interment at a later date when “it's warm and the sun is shining.”

At Grant's request, in memoriam donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated.