A message from the Grand family..

BDT

Stef asked me to post this for her on the forum

Guys, the outpouring of love and fond memories of my dad have literally brought me to tears. I knew that he was an amazing human being but hearing it come from people who have never even met him, that speaks volumes to us. When my sister passed away almost 11 years ago, a part of him passed away as well. The stereo and vinyl guy that some of you may know is nothing compared to what he was when my sister was alive. He had such a passion for music and sound, but when she left us, that passion left as well. My fathers battle with cancer began in August. As Troy mentioned, my father did not tell anyone, i think a handful of people knew. He did not want people to worry about him. He spoke highly of alot of guys from the forums, some guys were literally "household names". Since dad was such a HUGE Zappa fan, yes im probably the only 26 year old girl in the world who KNOWS who Frank Zappa is, his prayer card his a verse from a Zappa song and Zappa will be played during his viewing. If anyone has a problem with the inappropriateness of it, I'm sure we all know where my dad would tell them to go! Again, my mom and I can not thank you guys enough for all of your extremely generous words and memories you guys have of him.

steveinaz

Sweet.

scubalab

Troy,

Thanks for sharing. That was such a nice note from Stef. George may not have remembered me, and I'm sure Stef doesn't, as George only quickly introduced me to her in passing the one time I met him last summer to pick up a piece of Carver gear. But I can say that I could sense the strong family bond between George, Stef, and Theresa in the half hour I was at their home listening to some gear.

My heart goes out to them. Please give her and Theresa my sincere condolences.

-Al

sda2mike

thanks for sharing, sorry for your loss. your dad was a one off

miner

The Polk Forum is a close knit family - one I am proud to be a part of. George was/is a huge success of what this forum is today. I am sure his toe will be tapping during the viewing.

[Deleted User]

Playing Zappa, I love it. So would Frank.

scottyboy76

Stef,Zappa at a funeral is cool in my book.

That pic of George in the mirror shades is a pretty darn good one to be blown up and have at the ceremony.

Rip GG

Sherardp

Awesome share!

Jstas

Thanks for passing that along, Troy.

Jstas

Sorry, I'm going to prattle on about George a bit more here.

I know what Stef is talking about. When Tiff passed, George was just in a funk. I visited a month or so afterward and he told me he hadn't even turned on "The Truth" since the funeral.

The Rose Bush thing really did a bunch for him.

But early last summer, I asked George and some of the forums for help setting up a system for a neighbor's son. Sam was only 14/15 at the time (he's 16 now) and we had a VERY limited budget. When I told George what I was doing, he got this HUGE **** eatin' grin on his face and that spark that seemed to have been lost when Tiff passed...it was there again.

George went into George-overdrive and Sam has a pile of gear that we pieced together from broken parts and equipment he severely cut his rates on to give Sam a kick **** system.

George provided a set of Polk Monitors that needed new tweeters and one had a bad cap. We tried to find tweeters on eGhey but two different sellers with two different sets had no idea how to test a tweeter because every one was blown.

So I posted about it to George in one of the threads and someone here stepped up and set the kid up with some tweeters for his Monitors. We got them up and running and Sam had a rig to spin vinyl on.

George also gave Sam a turntable that needed some repair (I fixed that too), a receiver and all the wires needed plus two milk crates of vinyl he personally picked out.

Sam had $50. George didn't want to take it but I told him Sam insisted and he didn't want gimmies. He earned the money doing chores and some of it was birthday cash. George took it reluctantly but I think it worked it's way back into another stash of vinyl as they said they found some money in one of the albums. I know George went through everything he sold so if there was money stashed, he'd have found it. I think you get the point here. I told Sam that it was a sign and he should buy some vinyl with it!

We were talking about how much Sam was enjoying it around August and how the whole family was in to it now. I had mentioned about how I had let Sam borrow a single deck tape deck George had given me a while back and he said "Kid needs a tape deck? Jahn, whattaya doin' ta me? You comin' up this weekend? I got something for ya."

So I went up to grab a bunch of Frank Sinatra albums from George as well as a couple of receivers for friends.

I get there and George points at a box of vinyl he said was dupes from his personal collection, a box full of full length albums on cassettes, a cherry Oinker dual deck unit and the appropriate cabling for the dubbing. He says "That's for Sam with my compliments." All I did was mention we were listening to old cassette singles and George came up with a pile more gear.

Sam is sitting on probably $350 worth of used gear for his first stereo, at least, as well as about 60 albums that George provided before he started his fire sales. Kid's sitting on a couple hundred worth of vinyl too. Nobody wants cassettes anymore so those aren't worth much.

But the only reason George did this was because there was a kid somewhere looking to get in to stereos and spin some vinyl. Not for the gear but because the kid likes the music. George took it upon himself to make it happen. He helped me source parts for the broken stuff and made sure Sam was well on his way.

All for the love of music.

The picture was the rig the night we set it up. Sam's grandmom got him a rack to stick it all in for Christmas plus a gift certificate to a local 2nd hand music shop. So it's all in a better spot now.

Sam's mom tells me that stereo is crankin' for at least an hour every night of the week and goes on around 10 AM Saturday morning and plays all day long until about 10 pm at night. The only time it doesn't play all day on Sundays is football season 'cause he's a die hard Packers fan.



George is everywhere.

When Sam found out that George passed, he was angry and sad because he didn't have the chance to meet him and thank him 'cause every time George was available, Sam was at his dad's.

Nobody knows Sam from spit here. George only knows him from pictures and from meeting his mom and step dad at the Polkfests at my house. But I guarantee you that Sam will never forget George Grand.

steveinaz

A very smart preacher once told me "out of every death comes a thousand good things, and this is the tribute we must pay to the departed." Preachers rarely impress me, but those words have stuck for many years. He was speaking about how the family, close friends are drawn back together; how people reflect on their own life so far, and how they can improve it; how we may re-prioritize our lives for the better, as a consequence of this love ones death.

WagnerRC

Thanks for sharing.

Wardsweb

" If anyone has a problem with the inappropriateness of it, I'm sure we all know where my dad would tell them to go! " This brought a smile to my face.

SCompRacer

George was always giving, so I bought him a T shirt. He told me he really liked it. I still have mine though it's worn out. It had a picture of Zappa on stage with guitar thumbing his nose at someone or the audience. It read "What would Zappa do?" George went on to tell me stories of Zappa in concerts, like playing with his back to the crowd.

George Grand, one class act.

pitdogg2

Jstas wrote: »

Sorry, I'm going to prattle on about George a bit more here.

I know what Stef is talking about. When Tiff passed, George was just in a funk. I visited a month or so afterward and he told me he hadn't even turned on "The Truth" since the funeral.

The Rose Bush thing really did a bunch for him.

But early last summer, I asked George and some of the forums for help setting up a system for a neighbor's son. Sam was only 14/15 at the time (he's 16 now) and we had a VERY limited budget. When I told George what I was doing, he got this HUGE **** eatin' grin on his face and that spark that seemed to have been lost when Tiff passed...it was there again.

George went into George-overdrive and Sam has a pile of gear that we pieced together from broken parts and equipment he severely cut his rates on to give Sam a kick **** system.

George provided a set of Polk Monitors that needed new tweeters and one had a bad cap. We tried to find tweeters on eGhey but two different sellers with two different sets had no idea how to test a tweeter because every one was blown.

So I posted about it to George in one of the threads and someone here stepped up and set the kid up with some tweeters for his Monitors. We got them up and running and Sam had a rig to spin vinyl on.

George also gave Sam a turntable that needed some repair (I fixed that too), a receiver and all the wires needed plus two milk crates of vinyl he personally picked out.

Sam had $50. George didn't want to take it but I told him Sam insisted and he didn't want gimmies. He earned the money doing chores and some of it was birthday cash. George took it reluctantly but I think it worked it's way back into another stash of vinyl as they said they found some money in one of the albums. I know George went through everything he sold so if there was money stashed, he'd have found it. I think you get the point here. I told Sam that it was a sign and he should buy some vinyl with it!

We were talking about how much Sam was enjoying it around August and how the whole family was in to it now. I had mentioned about how I had let Sam borrow a single deck tape deck George had given me a while back and he said "Kid needs a tape deck? Jahn, whattaya doin' ta me? You comin' up this weekend? I got something for ya."

So I went up to grab a bunch of Frank Sinatra albums from George as well as a couple of receivers for friends.

I get there and George points at a box of vinyl he said was dupes from his personal collection, a box full of full length albums on cassettes, a cherry Oinker dual deck unit and the appropriate cabling for the dubbing. He says "That's for Sam with my compliments." All I did was mention we were listening to old cassette singles and George came up with a pile more gear.

Sam is sitting on probably $350 worth of used gear for his first stereo, at least, as well as about 60 albums that George provided before he started his fire sales. Kid's sitting on a couple hundred worth of vinyl too. Nobody wants cassettes anymore so those aren't worth much.

But the only reason George did this was because there was a kid somewhere looking to get in to stereos and spin some vinyl. Not for the gear but because the kid likes the music. George took it upon himself to make it happen. He helped me source parts for the broken stuff and made sure Sam was well on his way.

All for the love of music.

The picture was the rig the night we set it up. Sam's grandmom got him a rack to stick it all in for Christmas plus a gift certificate to a local 2nd hand music shop. So it's all in a better spot now.

Sam's mom tells me that stereo is crankin' for at least an hour every night of the week and goes on around 10 AM Saturday morning and plays all day long until about 10 pm at night. The only time it doesn't play all day on Sundays is football season 'cause he's a die hard Packers fan.



George is everywhere.

When Sam found out that George passed, he was angry and sad because he didn't have the chance to meet him and thank him 'cause every time George was available, Sam was at his dad's.

Nobody knows Sam from spit here. George only knows him from pictures and from meeting his mom and step dad at the Polkfests at my house. But I guarantee you that Sam will never forget George Grand.

Brings tears to my eye's

steveinaz

Prayin' for you Skip, you've had a tough year.

vmaxer

Thanks a lot for sharing.

Skip, wish I could help.

BDT

George was one of the most generous people I've ever known. He really loved doing things for people...that was his fun. For those of us who were fortunate enough....you could see it with his kids. He was SOOO devoted to them. Me? I think George tolerated me because of Wendi....but, I'm not Big DUMB Troy for nothing. There is a lot that I don't know nor do I pretend that I do but I was/am interested and George was ALWAYS willing to explain things to me and teach me about audio, music, the military, life in general....he just did. Anytime he had a piece of gear that he thought that I would like...it was always tucked aside for when we would visit and I know damn well that what little I paid for it wasn't enough. That was the kind of guy he was though.

One of the things that I'm most proud of is the money we raised at PolkFest for the Githens Center. I really thing that impressed on George how much he...and the family meant to us.

I miss the old ****....and if you are listening, like the Maestro said: Don't Eat the Yellow Snow.

BDT

Toolfan66

Great stories.. Thanks for sharing them...

GlennDog

Focus on that remaining pie and enjoy it while you share stories and grief over the loss.
dSkip

True dat, Siggy material

maingey

vMaxer thanks for responding to someone else's inquiry. I wouldn't have know that George had passed. I finally met him last summer to pick up some speakers. I expected it to be a pop in, as I was late for a breakfast. We ended up talking for 20 min in his driveway, and he spent a considerable amount of time talking with my son. My son still asks me 'Do you remember the time we stopped and talked to the nice man in the driveway?"
Thank you for sharing your stories about him. There is a reason he is so loved.