Granville Bryan Summitt

Granville Bryan Summitt, being the first child of Harrison Ollie & Juanita Jewel Summitt, was born March 8, 1937, at their rural home near Durant, Oklahoma. He was later joined by siblings Larry, Sharon and Karen. Following the Great Depression years of the 1930s, the family left Oklahoma and headed west to California, spending a few years in the San Francisco Bay area before they settled in the Sacramento Valley.

 

After graduation from Grant Union High School, Granville married his high school sweetheart, Donna Sue Smith, in Reno, NV, on June 2, 1956. He loved aircraft of all kinds, and soon he was in the Navy in Japan working on electronic navigation instruments. His family grew quickly in the first three years of their marriage with his three children, Linda Sue, Marilyn Kay and Michael Bryan.

 

Following his Navy service, Granville continued government service as a civil service employee.  He took advantage of a bold opportunity to move his family to the newly added 49th state of Alaska, driving his young family in August of 1963 up the then mostly unpaved roads  of the Alaska-Canada Hwy in a Studebaker! At just 26 years of age, he quickly fell in love with the beauty and vast wilderness of their new home in Alaska, settling in the Spenard area close to his work at the FAA Avionics lab at the Anchorage airport.

 

The family of five were all at home together when the Great Alaskan Earthquake shook the world with a 9.2 quake, forever changing the landscape near the airport and destroying the nearby homes of the Turnagain area which slid out into the sea. Granville worked alongside other Alaskans to rebuild and recover. He had a determination to drive to the end of every passable road in Alaska during his first 7 years in his beloved Alaska, so he bought a van and set out at every opportunity with his young family on camping trips. Granville was an avid hunter and fisherman on weekends and instilled a lifelong love of nature and mountains to his children. Alaska, the land of the Midnight Sun, became the heart and soul of his family.

 

In the 1970s as Granville’s children grew, they began to create their own families, making him a grandfather in March 1977, just a few days before his 40th birthday. His first grandchild, Sylas Seabrook, was always there to help his “grandpa” with new electronic technology of any kind. His youngest grandson, Errol, remained in Alaska and was able to grow up with a close bond to Granville, helping him with care and love in his last few years.

 

Granville transferred with the FAA in the late 1970s to the Midwest, working in Kansas and Oklahoma for several years before retirement. While there he was able to participate in more social dance clubs, learning both square dancing and round dancing, becoming a technically skilled dancer and instructor. Upon retirement, Granville traveled the country with his second wife, Judith Ann, teaching dancing at national dance festivals. After wintering a few years in Apache Junction, AZ, his love for family drew him to then move to Florida to be near both daughters in the early 2000s.

 

Granville wanted to live out his life in Alaska, and frequently returned for visits. When he had the opportunity again at the age of 81, he once again drove to Alaska for one final time to breathe that fresh Alaskan mountain air in his final years.

 

Granville loved his three children dearly and always stayed in their lives. He was truly a beloved father to all three. Although his daughter Linda predeceased him, he was survived by his daughter, Marilyn (husband Michael) and son, Michael (wife Sandra), both of whom remained very close to him. Granville also had a special closeness with his oldest grandson, Sylas and youngest grandson, Errol. Sylas and Errol were honored to be at their grandpa’s bedside for his last days. With his children and grandsons at his bedside, Granville passed peacefully after a wonderful life lived with a zest for travel and a love of family and of Alaska.

Granville was survived by two children, Marilyn and Michael, his youngest sister, Karen, 10 of his 11 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great grandchildren. He was predeceased by both of his parents, his brother, Larry Summitt, his sister, Sharon Wilkening and his granddaughter, Emily Ann Farmer.

 

Granville requested no tears and no formal services. Any gifts or tributes are requested to be given to Ancora Hospice services in Anchorage. He will forever be remembered as a wonderful dad and grandpa. His ashes will be scattered as he wished, at the same river where he himself spread the ashes of his oldest daughter, Linda. There in the Alaskan waters they both shall be at rest eternally under the midnight sun.