CORNER BROOK, N.L. — “He was a soldier and a soldier’s soldier.”
And there’s perhaps no other words that Nathan Lehr could use to best describe Robert (Bob) Grant.
Grant, a Corner Brook veteran of the Second World War, died on Friday, May 22, just one month shy of his 101st birthday.
Born in St. John’s on June 22, 1919, Grant moved to Corner Brook at an early age.
He joined up with the 57th Newfoundland Heavy Regiment of the Royal Artillery in April 1940. On May 12 of that year, Mother’s Day, he was one of the 106 recruits to leave for the war. The group paraded from West Street, down Main Street to the city’s train station.
His years of service took him to England, Scotland, North Africa, Algeria and along the Adriatic coast of Italy.
He returned to Corner Brook in 1946, along with his wife, Anne, his war bride.
After the war he worked at his father’s store on Caribou Road from 1946 to 1955. He then worked in the mill’s stores until he retired in 1982. He was a councillor on the Corner Brook West town council for six years.
Lehr is the president of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Command.
On Monday the Pasadena man said he was sad to hear of Grant’s death. He’s known Grant for some time and over the past few years would visit him at the Corner Brook Long Term Care Home, where he resided in the veteran’s ward.
He last spoke with Grant about two weeks ago. It was a phone call, as visits to the home are not possible during COVID-19.
“He loved just to hear someone talking to him,” said Lehr, adding that calls from fellow Legionnaires cheered him up.
“He always had a smile and was very polite. A gentleman."
Lehr noted Grant was a man with a zest for knowledge.
“Always taking notes," he said.
And he always had a story to tell.
“You could sit for hours just listening to the wonderful, wonderful stories.”
Stories about his life in Corner Brook and his Legion, Branch 13.
Grant participated in many Remembrance Day ceremonies and this past fall was no exception.
“He wasn’t going to sit. He stood, and he did his salute," Lehr said. "Like I said he was a soldier’s soldier. And he was a well-respected veteran, it was a pleasure to be in his presence.”
The Legion can’t do what it normally would due to honour Grant due to COVID-19, but Lehr has been asked to give the Legion tribute at his gravesite service.
“I know that Bob would have loved to have a parade there, but because of the times we can’t do it. But I’m going to be so honoured and so proud to do that for him.
“We’re just going to give him the respect that we give veterans.”
There will a trumpeter, playing from a distance, and the service will include the Last Post and the Reveille.
Derek Hamlyn, president of Branch 13 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Corner Brook, knew of Grant in his younger years, but really got to know him about five years ago.
“What I found amazing about the man was he knew everybody,” he said.
At one of their first meetings, Grant asked him, "Now, who are you?" and then who his father was. All Hamlyn had to do was say his dad’s name, Bob Hamlyn, and Grant was off.
Grant recalled Hamlyn’s father was a salesman from Newfoundland Outfitting and told him all his history.
And he didn’t stop there as he turned to Hamlyn’s brother-in-law, Walter Oates, and asked "now who might you be?"
He remembered Oates’ father as the fellow who went around lighting all the lights around Corner Brook when it had to be done by hand.
“His phenomenal memory will stand out,” said Hamlyn of what he’ll remember about Grant.
It was a memory that held many stories and Hamlyn said that, even at 100 years of age, it was unreal.
“He just rattled it off like it was yesterday.”
Hamlyn last saw Grant on Remembrance Day and to see him and the other veterans at the Long Term Care Home participating in the ceremony was a great thing to witness.
“No doubt, we’ll be one less this year.”
Grant is survived by his son, Ian Grant, and his daughter-in-law, Eleanor, of Manitoba and his granddaughters, Lindsay of Ontario and Robyn of Manitoba.
His funeral will be a private one and a celebration of his life will be held later, once the COVID-19 public gathering restrictions are eased.
