Swimmer, coach, community activist.
Born at Winnipeg in 1922, daughter of Birdie Philpott (?-1965) and George Ernest “Ernie” Philpott (1890-1981), she was a long-time resident of Fort Garry. On 7 June 1943, she married Alan Watson “Bill” Grant (c1922-1983) at the First United Church in Vancouver, British Columbia and had three daughters.
Through the 1940s and 1950s, she was a member of the Y Canoe Club’s tandem racing shell team and war-boat racing canoe team, and she and her husband were involved with the club’s management. She worked as a swimming instructor at the YWCA and earned all Royal Live Saving Society aquatics achievement awards, including the Diploma, presented to her upon the 1959 opening of the Fort Garry Lions Club Swimming Pool. She founded a learn-to-swim and water safety program in Fort Garry. She also provided swimming instruction for the Red Cross at Falcon Lake and the Pan Am Pool and coached synchronized swimming.
Her contributions to the community were acknowledged in 1972 with the naming of Margaret Grant Pool, the first indoor pool within the community, and she received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977). She was a member of the Fort Garry Historical Society, President of Synchro Manitoba, and an national synchro judge. She also enjoyed trick water-skiing, travelling, and dancing.
She died at Winnipeg on 4 July 2012.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Alex Bridge Park / Margaret Grant Pool (685 Dalhousie Drive, Winnipeg)
“Grant - Philpott,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 June 1943, page 9.
Obituary [George Ernest Philpott], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 June 1981, page 69.
Obituary [Alan Watson Grant], Winnipeg Free Press, 17 May 1983, page 44.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 14 July 2012.
“An indelible mark,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 January 2013, page J5.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 6 February 2022
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