Grant William Harvey

Grant William Harvey passed away on August 14, 2026, surrounded by his family in Albuquerque, NM.

On November 28, 1944, he was born to Lawrence and Georgia Harvey in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Grant graduated from Lindsay Thurber Composite High School and attended the University of New Mexico.

Grant married Rosalie (Lee) Harvey in July of 1977. He held several occupations including sportswriter for the Albuquerque Journal and as a self-employed Toyota mechanic until his late 70s. He was a devoted UNM Lobo Hockey supporter, Grant coached the team for many years, coaching sons, Grant C. and Miles during their tenure on the team.

Long before Easy Rider convinced everyone else that motorcycles were cool, Grant Harvey Sr. had already figured that out for himself. That was Grant. He had a habit of finding his own way through life, and the conventional route was rarely the most interesting one.

Born in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Grant's story began with at least one talent that might surprise those who knew the motorcycle riding, hockey playing, truck working man he would eventually become. As a boy, Grant did a bit of tap dancing. It would prove to be only the first of many unexpected turns in a life filled with them.

Grant's journey from Canada to Albuquerque began for a reason that was characteristically practical. The University of New Mexico was the first college to accept him that didn't charge him an application fee. So a young Canadian headed south to New Mexico, probably never imagining that a few saved dollars and an acceptance letter would determine where he would spend most of his life, build a family, and accumulate an extraordinary collection of stories.

Albuquerque became home.

At UNM, Grant became a journalist for the Daily Lobo, where his natural cynicism probably served him well. He later turned his talents toward sports journalism as a writer for the Albuquerque Journal. He spent a brief period as a teacher, but Grant was never someone whose life followed a single professional path. Eventually, he discovered how much he enjoyed working with his hands, particularly when those hands were working on Toyota trucks.

Grant was also difficult to overlook during his years at UNM. While other students arrived on campus in more conventional transportation, Grant became known for owning and driving hearses. It was an unusual choice, certainly, but one that somehow seems perfectly appropriate for a man who never felt much need to do things simply because everyone else did them.

The hearses were hardly the end of his adventures. At one point, Grant called a Winnebago home. Somewhere along the way, he also acquired a teepee, which meant traveling with its 28 foot teepee poles strapped to the roof of the Winnebago. There were probably easier ways to go camping. Grant apparently wasn't interested in them.

He rode motorcycles before they became symbols of the counterculture. He loved working with his hands and could lose himself in a Toyota truck that needed attention. He loved his garden and the satisfaction of watching things grow. He loved his animals and raised bulldogs. And then there was the bread. Grant wasn't simply someone who enjoyed baking a loaf now and then. He baked bread well enough to become a State Fair blue ribbon winner. Somehow, a man whose story included tap dancing, motorcycles, hearses, hockey, bulldogs, Toyota trucks and a teepee also being an award winning bread baker seems entirely appropriate.

And, of course, there was hockey. Perhaps for a Canadian, some things really are inevitable.

Grant was among the early players who took the ice for UNM Lobo Ice Hockey during the 1970s. Hockey remained part of his story long after his playing days ended. Decades later, he returned to the program, this time standing behind the bench. From 2007 through 2012, Grant served as coach of the UNM Lobo Ice Hockey team, sharing his knowledge, humor and love of the game with another generation of Lobos. The young Canadian who once came to UNM because of an application fee had become Coach.

For all the wonderfully unusual things Grant did, however, the center of his life was much simpler. It was his family.

Grant and his wife, Rosalie, shared 49 years of marriage. Together they raised their three children, Grant Jr., Ashley and Miles, and built a family and a lifetime of memories in Albuquerque. There always seemed to be something that could have occupied Grant's attention. There was a project waiting, something growing in the garden, an animal needing attention, a truck that needed work, a weekend of hockey games, or another adventure occupying his imagination. Yet through all of it, Grant made time for his family.

His family knew more than the hockey coach, journalist, mechanic, gardener, or man driving the hearse that everyone else encountered. They knew Dad. They knew his great sense of humor and his cynicism. They knew his peculiarities, the things that made him laugh and the things that irritated him. They saw the projects, animals, gardens, trucks and adventures up close. Most importantly, they knew that their father made room in his life for them.

Grant's willingness to make room for people didn't end with his own family. He had a fondness for people who lived on the edges, including people experiencing homelessness. He wasn't naïve about them, and he certainly didn't imagine that everyone he met was innocent or simply a victim of circumstance. Many had made mistakes. Some had lived hard lives. Some came with plenty of complications.

But they all had a story to tell.

Maybe the journalist in Grant never completely disappeared, because he was willing to hear those stories. He talked with people whom others might have walked past. He got to know them, and sometimes those conversations turned into friendships.

Grant also leaves behind his beloved sister, Jeanne, an important part of a family story that stretched from Canada to New Mexico.

Perhaps that is one of the best ways to remember him. Grant didn't require life, or the people in it, to be neat and conventional. His own life certainly wasn't.

Grant Harvey Sr. lived a life that was unmistakably his own. From a tap dancing boy to a motorcycle riding, hearse driving, hockey coaching, he took the unconventional road more often than the ordinary one.

He left the people who traveled alongside him with stories they will be telling for years to come.

And what a wonderfully unconventional ride it was.

A visitation will be held Thursday, August 20, 2026, 1:00 p.m., at Sunset Memorial Park, Chester T. French Memorial Mausoleum Chapel, 924 Menaul Blvd. NE, with entombment to follow.

A Celebration of Life will be held Sunday, August 23, 2026, 2:00 p.m., at Revel, 4720 Alexander Blvd. NE, 87107.