William "Bill" M. Grant Jr.

The son of Elizabeth Matthews and William Marvin Grant, Sr., Bill was born and raised in Ware Shoals, SC. He attended Ware Shoals High School, where he excelled in a wide variety of extracurricular activities and sports. Most notable among these was his participation on the golf team, as it fostered his life-long love of the sport.

Bill received his undergraduate degree from The Citadel in Charleston, SC, where he was known as “Mudcat”, a nickname that would follow him for the rest of his life. Among his many activities, he served as senior class president, on the Presidential Advisory Council, and as copy editor of the yearbook. He graduated in 1962 with honors, and was awarded the John O. Wilson Ring, given annually to the member of the first class “voted by his or her classmates as finest, purest and most courteous member of the class”. He attended law school at the University of Virginia before serving two years in the US Army.

Upon completion of his active military service, Bill returned to upstate SC to begin a law career that spanned more than forty years and included the co-founding of his own firm in 1990: Grant & Leatherwood, PA, with Judith Ann Leatherwood. He retired from active litigation in 2008 but continued to provide mediation services in a wide variety of general and complex civil matters.

In addition to being an avid golfer, Bill was also a voracious reader who was deeply curious about the world around him. He loved to travel, and could spend hours wandering museums, hiking through national parks, or exploring the world below us while deep-sea diving.

His family history fascinated him as well, and he went to great lengths to trace his lineage back to its Scottish origins, earning him a place in the St. Andrews Society. He was also most recently a member of the congregation of St. James Episcopal Church of Greenville, SC.

Bill is survived by his daughter, Mary Alice Grant, of Sapphire, NC; his sister, Betty Martin, of Little River, SC; and a bevy of extended family and loved ones: Judith Leatherwood Grant; Robert E. Wall; Duncan Baker; Christie Quinn; Grant Martin; Will Martin; Meredith Martin Bertrand; Ashley, Justin, and Tristan Crawford; Rob, Mackenzie & Easton Wall; Justin Wall; and last, but certainly not least, his constant companions, two dachshunds – Oprah and Otis Grant.

Due to constraints of the current pandemic, a Celebration of Bill’s Life will be announced later.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Academic Enhancement Fund at The Citadel Foundation, 171 Moultrie St., Charleston, SC 29409, or online at

https://foundation.citadel.edu/Mudcat.

Condolences can be sent to Bill's family at www.mackeywoodlawn.com.