Grant William Turnblom

After a year and a half battle with cancer (which started 11 years ago and went into remission), he finally succombed to that cancer peacefully in his home.

Grant graduated Ogden High in 1953 and then went for 2 years to Weber State. He enrolled in BYU for one year before serving an LDS mission for 2 1/2 years in Norway (in 3 areas). He spoke the language so well that the people thought he was Danish. He then spent 2 years in the Army. Following that, he continued his education at BYU. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Russian (with a minor in German). He then received a Master's degree in Library Science in the Spring of 1969.

He took extra time to graduate from college because he enjoyed taking a lot of music composing classes instead of doing what the required courses were to graduate with his specific degree.

Grant started working at BYU in the Library in 1969. He catalogued the Russian books as well as history for the Eastern hemisphere and the world, and he helped people working with maps that were in Arabic. He was the go-to man for any books that the sorters couldn't read due to his knowledge of various languages.

Grant was drafted and served for 2 years in the Army (between the Korean and Vietnam wars). Even though the Army had him listed as a Communications Center Specialist, they had him washing Jeeps and filling out requisition forms to order more requisition forms.

Grant is very smart and he's very quiet. He didn't talk to people much but they could tell how smart he was.

Grant married Sherry when he was 37 years old and she was 29. They thought they'd have the opportunity of seeing grandchildren in their lifetime but didn't think they'd get to see any great grandchildren. They were thrilled to have so many grandchildren plus even two great grandchildren. We've estimated he has written over 12,000 pages of music (over 100 books worth). Grant wrote 3 books: "Counties and Communities in Utah - Volumes 1 and 2" and "Utah General Information and Indexes and Cumulative Bibliography". For these books, he researched a little bit of the history of every single county in the state and wrote about it. He worked on these books for over 30 years and it was published after he retired. He has an entire room devoted to trains that he worked on for 46 years.

Sherry loved the way he played with children. He'd give camel and elevator rides and would stick his tongue between his teeth (where there were gaps) to tease the kids. He loved to steal their deserts and hide them on the table when the kids weren't looking. David remembers his dad teaching him stuff while they washed dishes together. Annalisa remembers him taking her to safety town at the mall just before school would start. Meili loved that her dad would play games in church during sacrament meeting with her. She also remembers that every time it was 12:34 and 56 seconds he'd celebrate that one second in time with them. Aaron says he would always go to him for answers especially about history and language. Mark was taught to recite the states in alphabetical order by his dad.

Grant loved trains and writing music (symphonies). He recreated the "white wooden roller coaster" from Lagoon for his train set by individually cutting out of poster board by hand (using an Xacto Knife) every single piece of wood that made up the ride. He loved roller coasters so much that as a kid he built his own roller coaster out of wood and rode it using his wagon in his back yard.

He is survived by his wife Sherry, and his 5 children: David (son), Annalisa (daughter) & Garth II (son-in-law), Meili (daughter), Aaron (son), and Mark (son). He is also survived by 13 grandchildren (Annalisa/Garth: Christine & Darin (grandson-in-law), Tiffany, Garth III & Cady (grandaughter-in-law), & Wyatt - Meili: Eliora, Ammon, Sariah, Esther, Mary, Sarah, & Joy). He is also survived by 2 great grandkids (Christine/Darin: Link, Aspen).

Preceding him were his parents: Elaine and Sylvan Turnblom. 

Siblings: Esther, Florence & Rick (brother-in-law), Sylvan A., Carl & Sharon (sister-in-law)

The funeral will be held in Orem at: 810 E 600 N (Orchard Stake Center) 9:30-10:30 Viewing  - 11am Funeral

Grant will be interned at the Orem Cemetery