Grant Winder Midgley 8/2/11~ 12/9/03 Grant Winder Midgley, 92, died December 9, in Salt Lake City, of natural causes. He was born August 11, 1911, in Salt Lake to J. George and Anna Grant Midgley. His maternal grandfather was Heber J. Grant, seventh President of the LDS Church, and his great-grandfather was Jedediah M. Grant, first mayor of Salt Lake City and Second Counselor to Brigham Young. Grant attended LDS High School and graduated from the University of Utah with honors in 1932. He married Marsha Ballif in Salt Lake in 1942, and they raised three children. As a young man he worked for an advertising agency doing lettering for show cards to put himself through school. This left him with a continuing interest in commercial art and painting of great artists and the exhibits of their works. These he saw with a discerning eye. Grant also played clarinet in a jazz band to assist with his school expenses and this left him with a strong interest in jazz. Grant participated widely in both business and politics. In 1936, he was a founding partner of the Seagull Drug Company and co-owned and managed the company's drugstore in Sugar House for many years. A lifelong Democrat, in the 1940's he served four years in the Utah House of Representatives and four in the State Senate, where he chaired the Joint Appropriations Committee. He also worked in advertising and on many political campaigns. In 1959, the Midgleys moved to Washington, D.C. where Grant served as an aide to newly-elected Democratic Senator Frank E. Moss. He became Moss's administrative assistant in 1965. Grant continued his public service career as an information specialist with the National Park Service, Department of Interior, from 1971-86. He retired in 1986, and two years later he and Marsha moved back to Utah. After retirement he was active in the American Association of Retired Persons. He served on state legislative committees of the District of Columbia and Utah, as well as six years on AARP's National Legislative Council. He was a trustee of the Utah Heritage Foundation and on the board of the Friends of the Marriott Library at the U. of U. He was also a life member of the Park Service's Alumni Association, and a member of the National Press Club. Grant was a renaissance man. He took pleasure in the arts - ballet, symphony and theater. He acquired great familiarity with classics such as Shaw and Shakespeare which he frequently quoted to his family and friends. Over the years he developed a deep and abiding love of opera and was a Metropolitan Opera Guild member for many years. Grant is survived by his wife Marsha and their three children, Marty McCune of Tucson, Arizona, John Midgley (Lynn Greiner) of Seattle, Washington and Jane Midgley of Somerville, Massachusetts, and by two grandchildren, Nate and Maya Greiner-Midgley. A memorial service will be held at Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple, at noon on Monday, December 15. Friends may call there at 11a.m. before the service. In lieu of flowers, Grant asked that friends make a contribution to the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, Ballet West or join the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.
Published in Salt Lake Tribune from December 13 to December 14, 2003