Mary Grant-Young

Mary Beth Grant-Young passed away in her home in Simi Valley, California on Tuesday, October 25th, 2022 after a 4 year long fight with metastatic breast cancer. She was surrounded by her husband Charles Young, her son Andrew Young, her daughter Elisa Young, and her sisters Donna Joan Ludlow and Barbara Grant.
Mary was born on Saturday, March 18th, 1961 in Port Washington, Wisconsin, the daughter of Joan Trabue and Donald Grant. She was the youngest of her two sisters and her brother John Grant. Her family moved to Toledo, Ohio when she was a baby, where she spent her early childhood, and then she moved to California at age 8, where she spent the rest of her life. In 1979, when she was 18, she met her future husband, Charles, who had recently moved to California. During this time, she was attending the California State University of Northridge. They got married on June 18th, 1983, also in Northridge, California. They created a beautiful family of two children, various sheltie fur children, and many feathered friends. Through him, she gained father-in-law Robert Young, mother-in-law Marie Young, sister-in-law Patty (Young) Hubbard, and brother-in-law Dan Hubbard. Mary and her husband raised their children Catholic, and when she was pregnant with their daughter, she converted to Catholicism herself.
Mary was a Renaissance woman and was talented at anything she set her mind to. She played piano when she was a child, played violin as a teenager, and played classical guitar in college. She had the most beautiful singing voice and loved to sing on stage, whether it was with her husband's band, karaoke, or a singing contest. She was a red belt in Taekwondo and won many trophies. She had a very creative eye and tried many different arts and crafts over the years, but her true calling was photography. She loved to capture events, places, and people in action. She won a 1st prize ribbon in the county fair on the first try, and she also knew how to do manual and digital retouching and how to manually colorize vintage photos. In her own words, she saw the world through vivid color, and this showed through her collection of gemstone jewelry, crystal, and art glass collection. She was a hippie at heart and loved '60s and '70s rock/folk music. In addition, she loved musical soundtracks, such as Fiddler on the Roof, Paint Your Wagon, and Tommy. She also had a great sense of humor and was a big fan of Monty Python and Saturday Night Live. Mary was passionate about learning about other cultures and loved to travel. She visited states all over the U.S., including Arkansas, which she considered to be her second home. She had also been to Mexico, Canada, the UK, and Europe. She was a true water sign and often craved going swimming or going to the beach.
Her first battle with cancer was in 2003, and after that she devoted her life to activism and cancer awareness. She was a volunteer for the American Cancer Society and was very passionate about fundraising, organizing events, making speeches, and getting laws passed. She even traveled to Sacramento and Washington D.C. to speak in front of senators. She also gave advice through over the phone peer counseling to cancer patients all over the country. She had a warm and caring personality and would even travel a great distance to help her family and friends at a moment's notice, whether she was taking care of a sick family member or simply being supportive for someone. She was a people person and was constantly making new friends everywhere she went. Mary lived her life to the fullest and will be remembered as an inspirational and magical person. She will be greatly missed by her family and the many, many friends she made over the years.
In lieu of flowers, we kindly ask you to carry on Mary's activism by donating to her favorite metastatic breast cancer charity at www.METAvivor.org/take-action/donate/.