John Andrew Grant

Positive, kind, and decent until his very last days, our beautiful father, John Andrew Grant, passed away peacefully at home on April 15th at the age of 104. The second of six children born to Francis Grant and Viola Macdonald, he and his twin brother Frank were born in 1918 in North Sydney and raised throughout Nova Scotia. He is predeceased by his siblings Kay (Paul Gillis), Frank (Lois McGuire), Gerald (Kay Adams and Mary Frances Burke), Mary (Earl Wynands, survived), and Jean (Walter Andersen).

Entering WWII and the Royal Canadian Navy at the age of 24, he served on four naval corvettes, battled in the Atlantic, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant. Few stories meant more to him than the time he was able to organize a chance meeting with his brother, Frank, then a decorated pilot, in Londonderry, when they first discussed plans to start a business together. Following the war, they launched Grant Brothers Sales Limited, representing manufacturers of auto parts across Canada. Proud of its expansion, he worked there until the age of 83 before passing the company on to family.

It was at a Royal Canadian Navy ball honoring the visit of Prince Philip to Toronto that he met Daphne Robinson. They married in 1950 and went on to spend 56 years together. They were loving parents to seven children, Tim (Gail Littlejohn), Andrea, Paul (Fiona Powles), Christie (Jai Chauhan, d.), John, Elizabeth (David Nunn) and Bruce (Jean-Vincent Blanchard). He was a cherished grandfather of Dustin, Jameel, Ravi, Christian, Adam, Charlie, Katie, Corey, Lindsay, and Jensen; great-grandfather of Lucy, Georgia, Isla, Sienna, Giada, Jordan, Jackson and Michael. Along the way, he was a special uncle and friend to many. In his 90s, when one might expect only quiescence, he crossed paths again with Rosemary Rathgeb, whom he had first met in Montreal in 1942 while on leave from the war. Reuniting almost seven decades later, they knew ten loving and bright years together, inspiring many around them. Well up until his 102nd year, he remained an active Catholic, attending church every morning and a prayer group once a week. He was an avid sportsman, in favor of any social event, and a volunteer for a number of causes.

Determined to pass out his days at home, he spent his final years in the superb care of Helen Parrenas, Eddie Parrenas, Marlyn Ubaldo, and Ivy Rosaria, along with the entire staff of 2900 Yonge Street, where he lived for more than thirty-six years. Among the many examples that he set for others over the course of his life, he remained disarmingly kind and expansive towards all around him, even as his health diminished.

A funeral mass will be held at Blessed Sacrament Church (24 Cheritan Avenue), on Wednesday, April 19th at 11:00am. Interment at Mount Hope Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to Blessed Sacrament Church would be greatly appreciated.