Nathaniel Grant

He was born on the 29th of March, 1962 in Freetown, Sierra Leone to Nathaniel Grant and Catherine Richards. The treasured middle child, Nathaniel spent his early childhood years in Sierra Leone, and when he was seven years old, he moved with his family to the United States.

In February of 1981, when Nathaniel was 18 years old, he enlisted in the United States Navy. For eight years, he courageously served his country, traveling all around the world, and enjoying every minute of it. He achieved the rank of Petty Officer Second Class and was honorably discharged in January of 1989.

Reliable and committed, Nathaniel had an innately great work ethic; there were only mere days between his discharge from the military and his first day at his new job as a civilian. He began his engineering career working for Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, NJ. After several years, he left to work for Nabisco and stayed with the company for many years and through a merger with Philip Morris. The merger eventually brought him to Concord where he worked at the large Philip Morris factory until it closed in 2009. Most recently, Nathaniel had been working for Lorillard, a Newport distributor, in Greensboro.

Nathaniel worked for many different companies over the years as an Engineer, and his workaholic tendencies even motivated him to work a few jobs on the side from time to time. No matter what his title was, though, and no matter if the work was for his primary job or a side job, Nathaniel gave his all to everything he did. He was a true self-starter, never a quitter, and everyone he came in contact with benefitted from his work ethic.

After moving continents at a young age and sailing around the world in the military, traveling just felt natural and good to Nathaniel. He loved exploring the many different countries in Africa, particularly enjoying the Ivory Coast and Nigeria, among others, as well as adventuring through Europe, where he especially loved Germany, Greece, and Amsterdam. He was also a big fan of Mexico, and in the states, he enjoyed visiting New York, New Orleans, and Las Vegas.

One of Nathaniel’s favorite parts of traveling, whether domestically or internationally, was all the different foods he got to try - and food was a big passion of his. Although he would try most anything, he favored Caribbean, West Indian, and West African cuisines, and some of his favorite foods were oxtail, codfish cakes, curry goat, and almost any cut of steak, as long as it was cooked medium rare.

Throughout his life, and in most every area, Nathaniel was constantly evolving, improving, and growing as he sought to experience as much of life as he could. While he always seemed to embrace the changes as they came, there are a few things that remained consistent and true his whole life: he was often the preferred family member who had an incredible knack for bringing people together; he was an amazing father who loved his kids deeply; and he was the best friend to so many. There are not words to fully articulate the impact Nathaniel had on the people and the world around him, and he will be profoundly missed by all.

Those left to honor Nathaniel’s memory include his mother, Catherine; his children, Justin, Anthony, and David; his siblings, Alice, John, Patrick, and Iscah; and Kelechi.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from 5:00pm until 8:00pm on Friday, the 27th of May, 2022 at Forest Lawn West Funeral Home, 4601 Freedom Drive in Charlotte. There will be an additional visitation the following day, Saturday, the 28th of May, 2022, from 2:00pm until 3:00pm at the funeral home. The funeral service is to be conducted at 3:00pm, immediately following the second visitation, in the Paul Helton Chapel at the funeral home. The burial will follow at Forest Lawn West Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to help cover Nathaniel’s funeral and burial expenses by sending money via Cash App to $cyril35, via Venmo to @Justin-Grant-358, or by check, addressed to Justin Grant, either dropped off or mailed to Forest Lawn West Funeral Home, ATTN: Alexas Gorbey, 4601 Freedom Drive, Charlotte, NC 28208.