Lana Sue Grant

Lana Sue Grant, died Wednesday March 7, at the Norman Regional Hospital. She was born November 25, 1942 at the Pawnee Indian Hospital and was immensely proud of her Native American heritage and was a member of the Fox Clan of the Sac & Fox Nation. Her parents, Ida Tyner Grant and Charley Grant lived most of their lives in Cushing, Oklahoma. After graduating from Cushing High School, Lana went on to earn not only a bachelor's degree, but also two master's degrees from the University of Oklahoma, the later being in Library Science. At the age of six she was stricken with polio which left her unable to walk without the aid of crutches and eventually to wheelchairs. She refused to let the disease define her and the crutches and wheelchairs became the chariots of her legs. Lana lived a brave and independent life. In 1988 she was the driving force and founder of the Sac and Fox National Public Library. Serving as library director from 1987 to 1995, she also was the editor of the monthly Sac and Fox News. Moving to Norman, she was employed by the University of Oklahoma at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History. Upon her retirement she became a museum volunteer. She also worked for Dr. Geary Hobson, an English professor at OU. Lana was an avid reader with broad tastes. Her bookshelves are full of her great range of interest from birds and animals to American Indian history, poetry and children's literature. She was a faithful diarist, recording each day's events in meaningful detail. Many of her writings were written in small notebooks of all kinds while she wrote others on the computer and are printed and filed. No story of her life would be complete without talking of her great love of dogs. She enriched their lives and they hers. She is survived by her great friend, Buster, who is living with his foster family - very good friends of Lana. This is what she wrote about one of her dogs. 'The first day I met Buddy was one of those days when you know your life journey took a different path.' Lana described the day she got Buddy from a Norman shelter, ...'He looked up at me and nuzzled my legs. I thought he came to me and as if he were saying, 'I've been looking for you, let's go home.' 'The years with Buddy were the most trying of my life. But, because of him, they were happy years too and he helped me survive.' She felt this way about all of her dogs. Lana's family tell us her love of animals also meant she rescued baby red squirrels and birds and fancied the snakes who visited the Norman museum with their handler. With great courage, wisdom and a keen sense of humor, Lana Grant approached life. She was truly a noble person who overcame the odds against her. Grant was preceded in death by her parents and a brother Robert Ray Grant of Fort Worth, Texas. She is survived by two nieces, Kimberly Grant and Kristen Grant, great nieces and nephews, Evan Pritchett, Emily Halterman, Skii McWalters, Erica Shelton, Robert Tye McWalters, all of Fort Worth, Texas. Grant leaves many cousins and good friends to whom she was a mentor and helper. Tribal rites for Grant were held at the Sac and Fox Community Building south of Stroud at 7 a.m. on Saturday, March 10. Burial followed at the Sac and Fox Cemetery.