Leslie Lynwood Grant

Leslie Lynwood Grant Leslie Lynwood Grant, 87, formerly of Marianna, died Saturday, Nov. 19, 2005, at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale. The service will be at 11 a.m. EST Friday at Bevis Funeral Home of Tallahassee (850-385-2193), with burial at noon CST at Bascom United Methodist Church Cemetery in Bascom, which was founded by his grandfather and great-grandfather. Family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m. EST Friday at the funeral home. Mr. Grant served on the board of trustees and as family historian for the Ancestral Family Association of William Langley Bevis, who, along with his 12 children, were Jackson County pioneers. His love of the Bevis family inspired him to use his retirement years to record his family history. Along with his wife, Polly Bevis Grant, he researched descendants who settled in Florida, collected stories and wrote "The Bevis Family History," a chronicle of descendants from 1818 to 1996. Today there are over 7,000 family members who descended from William Langley Bevis, his great-great-grandfather. Mr. Grant was born in Malone on Nov. 2, 1918, and also resided in Greenwood and Marianna. During World War II he worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the air base in Marianna and at Camp Gordon Johnston. So impressive was his service that he was called back into service during the Cuban Missile Crisis some 20 years later, preparing long-abandoned military bases for service personnel who moved into South Florida during that critical time. He moved his family to Miami in 1948 and began his career in the air-conditioning industry, then in its infancy. At the height of his career he was the president of seven industry corporations located in Miami, Palm Beach and Jacksonville. In 1986 he received the industry's highest national honor from the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, Mechanical Contractor of the Year. In addition to serving his industry in leadership positions on many local and national boards, he served his church as chairman of the board of trustees and as a deacon. He was a past president of Miami Shores Rotary Club and was a member of the Miami Shores Masonic Lodge and the Mahi Shrine Temple in Miami. He is survived by two daughters, Lynda Grant Killingsworth (and husband Charles) of Cooper City and Anne Grant Gauthier (and husband Clifton) of Davie; four grandchildren, Brenton Killingsworth (and wife Stephanie) of West Palm Beach, Grant Killingsworth of Miami Beach, Leslie Gauthier Nottingham (and husband D.J.) of North Port and Bradley Gauthier of Davie; and two great-granddaughters, Abey and Laci Nottingham of North Port. He is also survived by Russell Bevis and Bill Bevis, both of Tallahassee, Ray Southerland of Panama City, his beloved friends and brothers-in-law and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death two years ago by his wife of 62 years, Polly.