Grant Nathan Sibley of Salt Lake City, Utah, passed away on September 11, 2023, with his beloved wife, Laura, by his side.
Grant was born on April 2, 1966, in Des Moines, Iowa and grew up in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala where he lived with his parents Donald and Anna Sibley and sisters Rachel and Alina. In Guatemala he rode his horse Rohan to school every day. His family were agricultural missionaries for The Presbyterian Church and sometimes Grant would go with his dad, riding a burrow, to teach irrigation and steppe farming to Indigenous farmers. Grant spoke fluent Spanish and loved to read. Key role models and extended family in Guatemala included Sthela Martinez and Tomas Diaz. When he was 15 years old, Grant made his way from Guatemala to Utah where he lived with family friends and second family Joyceen Boyle and her son, John. Grant and John had met at the Inter American School in Quezaltenango, and then attended high school together in Salt Lake City. Grant graduated from Rowland Hall St. Marks in 1983.
Grant moved to California in 1985, where he met and married his first wife Karen Smith Sibley in 1995. They had two gorgeous sons, Ian in 1997 and Eric in 1999. The young family first moved to Round Rock, TX, then settled in San Marcos, where their sons grew up. As a young father, Grant worked for Stanley Tools as a multi-state sales manager. This was his dream job and he often jokingly compared himself to tv character “Tim the Toolman. Although this marriage ended, the couples’ love for and devotion to their sons endured.
In 2009 Grant moved back to Utah where he re-met and married an old high school sweetheart, Laura Martin Partlow in May 2010. There, Grant worked as a tool manufacturer at Proline Tools and then as a Property Manager for Partlow Investment Properties as Superintendent of Field Services and Maintenance Quality Control.
Grant loved traveling, scuba diving, reading, cooking, and playing the guitar. Grant generously gave his time and support to many who walked his journey. We remember Grant’s smile, deep throaty laughter and his storytelling including spontaneous memory for entire stanzas from old poems.
Grant is survived by his wife Laura Martin Partlow, beloved sons Ian Grant Sibley; Eric Nathan Sibley, dear stepchildren, Savannah Anne Cracraft; Alexandra Rosin Wilson; Taylor Lester Partlow-Wilson, grandson Mason Cracraft, parents, Donald and Anna Sibley, and sisters, Rachel Sibley (Jim Street); Alina Sibley (Heidi Welch).
Private Memorial services were held in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 23, 2023. East Coast Memorial services will be held in Cape Cod in December.
