GOUVERNEUR, NY — Grant P. Mitchell, 82, of River Road in the town of Fowler, NY, died peacefully on Sept. 21, 2021 at the Wilmot Cancer Center in Rochester.
Per his wishes, there will be no calling hours. A private burial will be held in the Riverside Cemetery in Gouverneur, NY.
Arrangements are entrusted to the LaRue & Pitcher Funeral Home, Ogdensburg.
Born Sept. 6, 1939, in Rochester, NY, to the late Harold F. & Catherine E. (Adams) Mitchell, he attended elementary school in Rochester and High School in Webster, NY.
Following that, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served on “Shore Duty” at Bainbridge, MD., then he took an assignment aboard the U.S.S. Forrestal (CVA-59), a Heavy Attack Aircraft Carrier, receiving an honorable discharge in 1958, followed by the completion of the six-year mandatory obligation to his country in the Naval Reserve.
Always a dedicated hard worker beginning at a very young age, he worked at a variety of jobs, including but not limited to: General Yard Work, Farmhand, Handyman, Professional Cook, Licensed New York State Insurance Agent, Precision Machinist, and Resident Ranger.
Moving to the north country in 1971, he became a General Building/Electric & Plumbing Contractor. He later, following the completion of intensive schooling in 1986, he became a certified professional locksmith, which he proudly served in St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Lewis counties until his semi-retirement in 2012.
His community service included memberships in the Masonic Fraternity where ultimately, he served twice as the Master of Gouverneur Lodge #217, and he was also a member of the Wildwood Lodge # 477 in Edwards, NY. He attained the level of 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, and also was Commissioned a Grand Lodge Staff Officer for the State of New York serving from 2000-2002. He had been a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and Explorer Scout as well as a Charter Explorer Advisor in Macedon, NY in the middle 1960s.
He enjoyed doing unkept/repairs and improvements to his properties; camping of all sorts, traveling with his RV travel trailer; hunting, fishing, target shooting, and endless “tinkering.”
He is survived by five children; Kathleen Shultz, Marybeth Cohick, Karen Harrison, all of Florida; Amanda Berry, Gouverneur and Grant P. Hewitt, Arizona. He is also survived nine-grandchildren and four-great-grandchildren, also, four half-brothers and one half-sister.
Donations in his memory can be made to the Wilmot Cancer Center located at 90 Crittenden Blvd., Rochester, NY 14642.