Rupert Augustus Grant was born in the Parish of Saint Mary, Jamaica on April 21st 1929. While he initially struggled with schoolwork, his passion for learning only grew as he aged. As a young adult in Jamaica he apprenticed as a tailor and emerged as a professional Master Tailor. Throughout town, he gained a great reputation for his tailoring skills. While in his profession, he could explore the nuances of design, tailoring alone could never have satisfied his creative spirit. He spent quite a bit of his leisure time playing brass with Ska musicians in and around town. Even in his last weeks he was heard reminiscing about playing with the trombonist Don Drummond.

In 1969, presented with the opportunity to emigrate to the United States, he leaped, yearning for the chance to not only live in another country, but also to pursue “The Great American Dream”. Still, everything isn’t always as imagined and while he might dream big, Rupert was very much a realist. New York, New York was a busy town, but everyone needed a safe secure place to lay their head. He became a building superintendent in Brooklyn, leaving his tailoring skills to find a home as a hobbyist. He acquired a wonderful collection of sewing machines, of all brands and ages, and his fine suits and custom pants became well appreciated primarily among close friends and family.

In line with his pragmatism and creativity, feeding himself and family took on a seriousness unparalleled by few. He would read about and hear about various recipes as well as watch others cook. Then, he would try them out, adapting them to his own tastes, perfecting methods, and making it his own. Where other home cooks would stop, he didn’t. He would then carefully type the finished product into a typewriter, preserving them for his personal cookbooks.

Approaching retirement in the time of systemization and certification, he didn’t allow himself to be aged out. In taking care of the grand building at 485 Lennox Avenue, he worked tirelessly to maintain the comfort of the residences. He had no fear of the large boiler room, working in temperatures and situations where no others would. Pressed to maintain and obtain a suite of certifications about equipment that didn’t even exist in his youth, he would pore over large manuals with fine print. He had a family to take care of, and he would only retire when he was ready.

Knowing his children were safe and secure in their adulthood, he packed his cookbooks, his sewing machines, and countless memories and skills, finally retiring to Bog Walk, In St. Catherine Jamaica. He put his acquired superintendent skills to use, and renovated a house, making it a home, by planting fruit trees, and vegetables. It is in this late life that he grew close to the Lord, rededicating his life in the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Remaining active, continued to visit his children and grandchildren in the USA. It is on one of these many visits that ill health bade him remain among his adult children in Florida until the time of his passing, a few days after his 86th birthday, on April 25, 2015.

He is survived by daughters Alda Grant, Junette Ellis, Dean Lennon, and Roxanne Grant, sons, Rohan Danny Carney, Kwesi Grant, and Rogland Grant, as well as 27 grandchildren and 11 great Grandchildren, and three brothers Lonnie, Edward and Joseph Boy Blue Grant. Two children, Noel Mickey Grant and Irma Jean Campbell have gone on before him to receive him in the afterlife.

Visitation will take place on Friday, May 8, 2015, from 10:00 AM – 12 PM with a Tributes of a Lifetime Service at 12:00 PM at Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Care, University Drive Chapel. Interment will follow at Hollywood Memorial Gardens Cemetery north.