Grant Hermans Cornwell

PORTSMOUTH ? Grant Hermans Cornwell, 92, of 52C Glen Meade Drive, died Friday, September 21, 2007, at home. He was the husband of the late Ellen Margaret Gandsey, to whom he was married for 62 years. Formerly of Batavia, IL, New Canaan, CT and Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Grant lived in Portsmouth for thirteen years.Born in Lyons, NY on February 24, 1915, he was the son of the late George Rathbun Cornwell and Belle Genevieve Palmer. He graduated from Lyons High School in Lyons, NY, was an Eagle Scout, and received a bachelor?s degree in Economics and Mathematics from St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. He played varsity basketball at St. Lawrence and was the drum major of the University band. He was a sales trainee at IBM in 1939, for which he gives credit to his father, who hired Thomas J. Watson, Sr. as a salesman for his piano firm before Mr. Watson founded IBM. Grant worked for IBM for over 45 years, where he received an Outstanding Contribution Award and earned 22 Hundred Percent Clubs. After his retirement from IBM, he gave motivational sales presentations to IBM employees. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1943-1945 in Pearl Harbor, HI, where he was the head of the IBM installation.Grant was an active member of the Episcopal Church, which he served in many capacities. He was happy with all his years, proud of his family, and very thankful for his blessings. He wanted everyone to know the importance of hard work and faith. Grant loved gardening and family summers at Lake Vermillion, MN.Although he did not know it during his lifetime, Grant had a particular Rhode Island ancestry: he was an eighth-great grandson of both Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island, and Philip Shearman, signer of the Portsmouth Compact. He was a seventh-great grandson of Zoeth Howland, a Quaker whose family ran the ferry between Portsmouth and Tiverton. He was also a sixth-great grandson of John Rathbun, one of the original 16 purchasers and settlers of Block Island.He leaves a daughter, Mary Katharine Mary Kay Cornwell Lundberg of Portsmouth; three sons, George Rathbun Cornwell III of Austin, TX, Thomas Gregory Cornwell of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Grant Hermans Cornwell Jr. of Canton, NY, and their spouses; and a sister, Catharine Cornwell Sprugel, of Seattle, WA. He is also survived by nine grandchildren: Gregory Hartman Lundberg, Thomas Gregory Cornwell Jr., George Rathbun Cornwell IV, Brendon Gandsey Cornwell, Christian Blackard Cornwell, Sara Lundberg Arnett, Adam Grant Cornwell, Kelsey MacIntosh Cornwell, and MacIntosh Grant Cornwell. He was preceded in death by his grandson Grant Hermans Tanner Cornwell III. He is also survived by eight great-grandchildren: George Rathbun Cornwell V, Caro Blackard Cornwell, Eleanor Keen Lundberg, Robert Grant Lundberg, Meredith Cornwell Lundberg, Alexander Charles Cornwell, Tyson Raina Cornwell, and Gage Burhans Cornwell. He will also be missed by his foreign exchange student, Raimund Fleischer, of Schwenningen, Germany.Those who wish to honor Grant?s memory may make a donation to the Visiting Nurse Services of Newport Bristol Counties, 1184 East Main Road, Portsmouth, RI 02871; or to St. Mary?s Episcopal Church, Portsmouth. Calling hours omitted. The funeral will be held on Saturday, September 29 at 10 a.m. at St. Mary?s Episcopal Church, 324 East Main Road, followed by the burial, also at St. Mary?s.