David Alan Grant

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Dave with his family by his side, on February 10, 2010 at the age of 23 at the Health Science Centre.

He will be lovingly remembered by his mom and dad, Carmen and Sandy, his dearest brother Andrew, closest cousin William Elliot (Andrea), and his aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins. He is also mourned by his many, many friends, especially Mark Gerbrandt, Matt Fowler, Jean-Guy Doiron, and David Neufeld.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba Dave attended school in Niverville until grade 11 then completed grade 12 at Morris Collegiate. Dave did his entire apprenticeship at St. Anne’s Car Clinic, and went on to achieve his dream obtaining an Auto Mechanic’s License he then spent a year at Brodeur Chev-Olds in St. Adolphe until their forced closing. He was immediately hired by Reichert’s Auto in Gimli where he was settling in happily. Dave was a valued employee who brought the same integrity and enthusiasm to his job as he did to his many friendships. Dave was a sensitive, friendly guy who wore his heart on his sleeve, always at the ready for everyone, anytime, anywhere. Dave’s zest for life included vintage cars, snowmobiles…. almost anything with a motor.

A service of remembrance will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, February 20 at Thomson “In the Park” Funeral Home, 1291 McGillivray Blvd.

Special thanks to Gimli Emergency Unit and HSC.

Flowers gratefully declined. Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of your choice.

Eulogy by William Elliot

As many of you know, my name is William Elliot and I am David’s cousin. Growing up with Dave or as his mom would call him Joe Joe, there was never a dull moment. We were always busy inventing things and getting into trouble. As kids Dave and I were inseparable, we were like brothers. No matter what the situation we stood by each other. I will never forget the time Dave and I decided to build a pool from a tarp, a barbeque and the stair rail by his side door. We decided that our pool needed some hot water to make it better, so we rigged up the garden hose to the kitchen sink. At the time it seemed like a great idea….uncle Sandy didn’t seem to think so. When he caught us, he came outside and put our pool building to an end and told us that we should stop because we might blow each other up if the tank fell of the BBQ. We were pretty disappointed that our swimming came to an end, so the next day Aunty Carmen decided to take us to Margaret Grant swimming pool. This time, we thought for sure we would get some swimming in, but that was stopped when someone decided to take a dump in the pool. The pool was evacuated and closed for cleaning!! I always blamed Dave and he always thought I did it, we never did figure out who it was. Once Dave was old enough to drive we decided to try and go swimming in Steinbach pool with Andrew this time. We were so excited to go that we forgot our trunks on top of the car and lost them somewhere down the highway. Instead of wasting time trying to find them, we figured we would borrow some from the MCC thrift store in Steinbach. We managed to find some outside in a bag that seemed suitable so we headed back to the pool. What we failed to realize is that they didn’t allow cotton shorts in the pool and we got busted and once again our swimming plans were spoiled. Whatever Dave and I did we made the best of the situation and found a way to have fun. So we decided to take the gravel road home and burned the borrowed shorts….never a dull moment with Dave.

Dave loved life and enjoyed every moment! Dave always wanted to race and go fast!! His true love was his Malibu…but he also loved his go cart, his snowmobile, his motor bike and many other things. Most of all Dave loved smashing up old donor cars!! The last car we got was an old Dodge Colt. We drove that car so hard it overheated and caught fire. Not ever thinking of safety first, we had nothing to put out the fire, so we just sat and watched it burn. The flames were getting pretty high and it must have concerned the neighbor because along came Dave Neufeld with his son to check out what was going on and to see if everything was okay. Once we convinced him we meant for the car to catch fire, off he went. Dave said to me after, he probably told his son not to do what we did and that we were bad examples.

Whatever I did, Dave seemed to be right behind me. We supported each other through everything in life from joining power mechanics, graduation from Red River College, him standing up for me as my best man in my wedding, and the latest journey, he was to be God father of our soon to be new edition.

Dave might be gone, but he left behind to all who knew him, memories that will last forever. He was the most generous, thoughtful, loving, caring, enthusiastic, genuine guy I have ever known. It was an honour and a privilege to have had him in my life. He will be with me in my heart forever. The pain of him leaving us so soon, will never go away just like the memories he left behind.

We love you Dave!!