Douglas Eugene Grant Sr.

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Douglas Eugene Grant was born September 6th, 1929, in Miss Sutton’s Maternity Home in Paso Robles, California to Adam and Clara Grant, the 3rd of 4 children. Doug passed away May 27th, 2022, at the age of 92.

Doug was raised on the family’s sheep and cattle ranch in Shandon, CA and the days of his youth were spent working alongside his father and siblings tending sheep and herding cattle. A day of respite from the intense California summer heat was a trip to the family vacation cabin in Moro Bay.

Doug attended a one-room school where the key requirement for graduation was the ability to recite the preamble to the Constitution. Doug mastered the preamble, then spent the rest of high school reading every Zane Gray book he could get his hands on. This love of reading endured for his entire life, as Doug was a student of history, of scripture and of life.

Doug attended the University of California, Davis where he earned an associate degree in animal husbandry before his further education was interrupted by a draft call into the US Army.

While his older brother Bob was serving as an advance artillery scout in the Pacific Theatre during WWII, he was introduced to a faith with a homeless ministry and church that meets in the home. Embracing this faith, Bob returned to home at war’s end and shared the good news with his siblings and mother. Doug made his choice to serve God in 1951, a choice that defined and guided the rest of his life.

It was through fellowship with these friends that he was introduced to his future bride, the gracious and talented Clarice Hill. “Claricee” as Doug called her, could bake a cherry pie (and win baking contests!), play the piano beautifully, and adored her lanky, awkward cowboy. Doug asked for her hand in marriage just prior to shipping out with the Army, and they were married January 14th, 1954. Clarice became the wife, partner, “social planner” and life-long companion to Doug, working side-by-side to build the best life possible for what eventually became a family of seven children.    

Doug’s military service took him and his new bride to Berlin, Germany, where they joined other Allied forces in occupying post-war Germany. Doug served in the elite Berlin Brigade, and his post-war service helped secure the hard-won gains of the soldiers who served before him.

After completing military service, the couple returned to California where Doug took a job as the manager of a dryland grain farm, the “Dresser Ranch”. While there Doug’s military service qualified the couple to enter a “Veteran’s Preference” homestead lottery in the fledgling A&B Irrigation Project near Rupert, ID. The couple were awarded one of the last available homesteads on the project. Doug and Clarice packed up all their earthly possessions, bundled their 3 toddlers, and caravanned to the “north side” of Minidoka County, Idaho to start their adventure in homesteading.

The first “homestead” was a cinderblock shack with a mobile home attached at the end to create a “two-room” home. Baths were taken in a round galvanized tub, the privy was an outhouse, and fine dirt drifted across the floor anytime the Idaho wind blew. The couple cut brush, changed diapers, hauled rock, changed diapers, built ditches, changed diapers and finally planted their first crops of barley, peas and mixed grain in 1960. The crops were an utter failure, and Doug related that “we would have left, but we had no money to leave”.

The kindness of neighbors, the willingness of cousin “Jim” Bone to lend equipment, and the kind credit of local venders enabled the couple to continue, and future years brought some successful crops, more kids, and more diapers. By the late 60 ’s things began to change for the better economically. Doug credited the change to the oldest kids being able to provide labor, and finally getting a tractor that would run all day in the form of a 1964 John Deere 4020.

Into the 70s and beyond the farm finally flourished. Doug was able to assist or partner with the next generation, farming at various times with Kalvin Miller, Doug Grant Jr., and Duane Grant, and ultimately forming Grant 4-D Farms, LLC which continues today.  

Retirement officially started at 70 when the family bought Doug a set of golf clubs and gave him permission to do something besides farm. Having never before played, Doug took to the game with dedicated fervor and soon developed a respectable game and a new-found passion for non-farm adventures. His new focus included restoring his original 1955 Dodge pickup and restoring multiple Caterpillar and John Deere tractors. His last and final project was to restore a 1929 Caterpillar 30, his favorite project since he and the Cat 30 shared the same birth-year.

Having grown up in California where water was scare, Doug cherished the clear and abundant water that flowed from wells pumping from the Snake River Aquifer. Joining with other senior statesmen of agriculture Mac Neibaur, Richard Blinco, and Burt Stevenson, the group worked towards creating a win-win solution to the divisive conflict between farmers who source water from the Snake River vs. those who source water from the Snake River Aquifer. The Settlement Agreement under which water is currently governed in Magic Valley builds on the work of this group.

Doug passed peacefully at home in his sleep, having lived a full life with the love of his family and many friends, and ending his journey with the hope of eternity.

Doug is survived by his wife of 68 years Clarice Anna Hill Grant, brother Keith Grant, regarded-as-son Gary Paul, children Pamella (Kalvin) Miller and children Kenyon, Ryan & Suzanne, Gwendolyn (Doug) Whitney and children Nathan, KoriAnna, Jerrod & Kristen, Douglas E. (Laurel) Grant Jr and children Chyla & Adam, Duane (Kim) Grant and children Dustin & Taylor (mother Laura Grant), Bonnie Wylde and children Andrew & Hailey, David Grant and children Rhiannon Betts (mother Kathy Rodriguez) and stepson Aaron Fritz, and 16 great grandchildren. Doug was preceded in death by his infant son Dean, son-in-law Kalvin Miller, brother Robert Grant and sister Ellen Donaldson.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 at Grace Community Church in Rupert.  A viewing will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Monday, June 6, 2022 at Hansen Mortuary and for one hour prior to the service on Tuesday at the church.  Arrangements are under the direction of Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be made in memory of Douglas Eugene Grant Sr. to Mayo Clinic for Cancer Research. Donations can be made by phone, online or by mail: Please call 1-855-852-8129 to talk with a Benefactor Service Associate who can facilitate a secure gift over the telephone.  To donate online, please visit https://philanthropy.mayoclinic.org/donatemc and complete the online form. 

·         Under “Designate my gift to...”, please select the appropriate fund from the provided list or select “Other” and manually enter the correct designation. 

·         Under “Tribute Information” please indicate the gift is in memory of Douglas Eugene Grant Sr.

Checks can be written directly to Mayo Clinic and mailed to the following address: 

Mayo Clinic

Department of Development 

200 First Street SW 

Rochester, MN 55905 

In the memo line of the check or on a separate please indicate that the donation is in memory of Douglas Eugene Grant Sr. and is for the purpose of Cancer Research.

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