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James V. “Jimmy “ Grant, 60, of North Liberty, University of Iowa Head
Women's Track and Field coach, died peacefully Monday, July 23, 2007, of cancer.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 28, at Lensing Funeral and
Cremation Service, Iowa City, with the Rev. Orlando Dial. The family will greet
friends from noon to service time Saturday at the funeral home. Burial will be
in Kingston, Jamaica. Memorials may be directed to the Bethel African Methodist
Episcopal Church Building Fund. James was born Jan. 8, 1947, in Manchester,
Jamaica, the son of Claudius and Pearline Bailey Grant. He was married to
Rebecca Wright on Jan. 1, 2006. James was a graduate of the Kingston College
High School for Boys and a 1971 graduate of Eastern Michigan University. At
Eastern Michigan he earned all-American honors and in 1991, was inducted into
the Eastern Michigan Hall of Fame. In 1982, he received his master's degree in
physical education from the German College of Physical Education in Leipzig,
Germany. Prior to joining the Hawkeye program Grant coached at the high school
level in Jamaica. Coach Grant served as assistant Hawkeye coach from 1986-1996
and became head coach in 1996. Coach Grant led the Hawkeye program to great
achievements. James was a member of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal
Church. He was a devoted coach, husband and admired family man. James is
survived by his wife, Rebecca of North Liberty, with whom he lived, and four
children, Michael, Tya, Antonio and Marquise; James' five children from out of
state, Flor-Maria Grant-Cope, Suzette Grant-McTaggart, Aisha Grant- Daley,
Kareem Segler-Grant and Jamie-Lee Grant; three grandchildren, April Grant,
Christian Daley and Tyler McTaggert; brothers, Homel, Charlie, Owen and Donald;
and other extended family who reside in Jamaica.
Cameron remembers late coach Jimmy Grant
"I always wanted to grow up to be just like him." Such are the fond memories
Bert Cameron has of his former coach James 'Jimmy' Grant, who passed away on
Monday after a two-year battle with cancer.
Cameron told the Observer on Wednesday that he met Grant while he was a
16-year-old student at Spanish Town Secondary and was offered a scholarship to
attend St Jago High School, where he was coached by Grant for the next few
years.
"He took me like a son and was everything to me. He guided me, he was my mentor and everything
I achieved in track and field as a young high school boy was because of Jimmy
Grant," Cameron said. Grant, who coached at the high school level in Jamaica for
11 years and also coached at the GC Foster College, moved to Iowa, United
States, in 1986, where he served with the Iowa University's Women's track &
field programme for 23 years. He was assistant coach for 11 years and head coach
for 12.
"He's someone I can't find words to describe... I knew that he was sick, but I
didn't know he was going to go this early," a tearful Cameron said. The 1983
400m World Champion added that he maintained a working relationship with Grant
even after leaving the high school system as a Health and Physical Education
major at the University of Texas at El Paso.
"We used to talk back and forth and I used to call him collect to tell him about
my track training," he told the Observer. Cameron said he credits Grant with his
initial successes at the 1981 Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games in the
Dominican Republic, where he won the 400m, and the Commonwealth Games gold in
Brisbane, Australia, a year later.
Grant, a Kingston College old boy, held the national 400m hurdles record and
represented Jamaica at the 1966 Commonwealth Games. According to
hawkeyesports.com, while at the University of Iowa, Grant coached one NCAA
champion, 15 all-Americans, 26 Big Ten champions, three NCAA Midwest Regional
champions, 28 all-region selections and 81 NCAA Midwest regional qualifiers. The
university also placed third in the 2004 Big Ten Indoor Championships. BY DANIA
BOGLE Observer staff reporter bogled@jamaicaobserver.com Friday, July 27, 2007
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