Covenant News

Services Monday for Marionette Ministry Pioneer Willard Grant

TURLOCK, CA (January 30, 2002) - Services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Monday at Turlock Covenant Church for longtime children's evangelist Willard Grant, 78, who died Tuesday afternoon of complications following heart surgery.

Visitation will be observed at Whitehurst Funeral Home in Turlock from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Grant was a resident at Covenant Village in Turlock.

A member of Turlock Covenant Church, Grant and his wife, Margaret, served from the mid-1950s until 1993 in a full-time marionette ministry that became known throughout North American churches for its unique method of sharing the gospel.

Willard Grant was born October 23, 1923, in Hong Kong. He was the son of missionary parents who served mostly in China, according to Margaret Jennine Anderson's Miracle Ministry to Children, a story of the Grants and their ministry. Grant lived most of his childhood in Hong Kong and moved to the United States in 1940 when World War II forced the family to leave the area. Grant went into the Navy and eventually met Margaret Palmquist in Chicago.

Randall Wilkens, director of worship and music at the Evangelical Covenant Church in Lafayette, Indiana, recalled events that led to the couple's marriage. Wilkens, who lived near the Grants during his childhood, heard Margaret Grant say that the two "met on the first date, got engaged on the second date and married on the third date."

After Willard and Margaret Grant married August 1, 1945, they matriculated to Seattle Pacific University and eventually went to North Park College and Theological Seminary in 1952. They served as youth directors at Edgebrook Covenant Church in Chicago during that period. Willard was a summer camp pastor at Mission Springs Camp and Conference Center in 1953 and the two directed Bible school programs in the North Pacific area in the summer of 1954 while they were still in seminary.

Edgebrook Covenant had asked Willard and Margaret to be youth directors in 1954 and during the fall they orchestrated an event called "The Great Pow Wow" for the youth group. The Grants even placed a large tepee at the church entrance. As they began marionette ministry, an "Anchors Away" series proved popular as did a "Western Roundup" edition, according to the book about the couple. This thematic concept proved to be an important part of the marionette ministry in following years. An especially popular series included a Revolutionary War theme during 1976, commemorating the Bicentennial of the United States.

For many years, the Grants lived near Clifton, Kansas, where they had an elaborate building for constructing and repairing marionettes. Their home displayed many beautiful pieces from Hong Kong and China, reminders of Willard's childhood. When they were in town, they often visited the Brantford Covenant Church in Clyde, Kansas. But they weren't home much during the prime years of their marionette ministry. Trailing their equipment behind a station wagon, they performed programs week after week for decades.

Willard and Margaret continued to share in ministry following their retirement. They had been involved in a hospitality ministry to international students at California State University at Stanislaus, according to Brad Boydston, pastor of Cornerstone Covenant Church in Turlock.

Grant is survived by wife, Margaret; a daughter, Maureen Toll of Clifton, Kansas; and four grandchildren.

For more information concerning visitation or the service, call the church at 209-667-1191 or Whitehurst Funeral Home at 209-634-4904.

Printable version of this page.