By Adam Brazeau
CORNWALL, Ontario – Staff at Grant-Marion Construction are mourning the loss of company patriarch Bruce Grant.
After a long battle with lung cancer, Grant passed away at the Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH) on Monday, April 14. He was 74.
Luc Marion, president of Grant-Marion Construction, described his former partner with these words: ethical, genuine, integrity, witty, and fair.
“He treated everyone with respect,” said Marion. “Whether it was a client for whom we were building a million-dollar home or the labourer working outside laying the sod.”
Grant gave Marion his big break in 1985 when he was just a junior engineer. Despite their 18-year age difference, the two built a solid foundation in business and friendship, which continued well after Grant’s retirement in 2004.
“He was not only a mentor, he was a big brother and a great friend,” Marion said.
Grant founded Grant-Marion Construction in 1971, under the company’s original name: Bruce Grant Construction.
The office was based out of Ingleside, where he lived. Grant was previously an engineer for the City of Ottawa, and the City of Cornwall. He left to start anew in the private sector.
It started as a family business. His mother and father, Calvin and Grace, helped in the early years. His brother Bob ran the lumber side of the company, which was eventually shut down to expand into a new market.
In the early 1980s, Bruce Grant Construction relocated into a small office in Cornwall.
The company’s moniker changed to Grant-Marion Construction in the 1990s when Marion became a partner.
Grant won the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce lifetime achievement award in 2001.
“Right from the first interview – he was a genuine person,” said Marion. “What you saw is what you got.”
A service is being held Saturday at St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church Ingleside at 11 a.m.
