Alfred Grant Glennie

Grant Glennie, age 88, died January 25, 2016 in Sidney, B.C. Predeceased by his wife, Jean, and son, Bruce. His children; Linda, Nancy, Diana, Alan, Laura and Rob, 10 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren and the hundreds of students who passed through the Woodworking Centre of Ontario are his legacy. Grant was a creative child who remembered running to get to his art class in a studio above the St. John Public Market after school. That artistic ability was to reappear; he recalled with great pleasure the design/build of theatre stage sets for the Orpheus Operatic Society in Ottawa, and for a Ryerson production, where he was a star student in furniture design. Grant's UNB Forest Engineering B.SC. launched his varied and highly esteemed career in the Canadian furniture industry. From the Forest Products Research Lab in Ottawa he went on to spend 14 years with Electrohome's Deilcraft Furniture as Quality Control Manager - when manufacturing was still king in Kitchener-Waterloo. In 1968 he was instrumental in the development of Conestoga College's Wood Products Technician Program, and served as Co-ordinator for 8 years. Grant was instrumental in the planning of the Woodworking Centre of Ontario which was completed in 1988; and where he remained as Chairman until his retirement in 1992. Grant's retirement to Victoria in B.C. was not about polishing up his golf. Instead, he took on consulting work at UBC, and multiple volunteer roles: at The Wild Arc Society, The Ayum Creek Salmon Restoration project and The Alliance Party. When teased about his politics drifting right of centre he said "Well you know what happens when you stand in the middle of the road, don't you? You get run down!". Memory impairment and frail health in later years didn't affect his love of music or ability to make people laugh at his clever quips. His talent as a piano player was legendary. In his memory, donations may be directed to Conestoga College's Grant Glennie Memorial Fund at https://www.conestogacommunity.ca/giving

Conestoga College Institute of Technology