You can learn something about someone at a Celebration of Life when family and friends come to bid their farewells.
This old church with the towering steeple on Westmont Drive in Fayetteville was a testament Monday to the life of Grant Singleton III. From the altar to the balcony, this sanctuary was overflowing with those paying final respects, and they sat shoulder to shoulder in almost every pew.
“He doesn’t want to be remembered for his diagnosis,” daughter Sebrell Trask Singleton told us. “He wants to be remembered for living.”
Grant Singleton wanted to be remembered for the boyhood friends he made from Skye Drive, VanStory Hills and Forest Lake, those once-kids who would remain friends throughout their lives. He wanted us to know it never was too early for casting a rod and reel toward the pond or that hunting season could never come too soon. He wanted us to know that a story isn’t a good story without a sense of humor. He wanted us to know how he cherished old friends such as Dr. Bill Wiggs, Michael Paschal and Bill McFadyen.
Most of all, Grant Singleton wanted us to know that the best of his days was meeting Sebrell Coupland, the young woman from Wilmington. She swept Grant Singleton off his feet, and the couple would rear a daughter and a son with so much pride.
“I can’t talk about my father without talking about my mother,” Sebrell Trask Singleton said. “They were a team.”
Sebrell Singleton was by her husband’s side every day since Grant Singleton was diagnosed about 3½ years ago with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
“My mother said, ‘I would do it all over again,’” son Grant Singleton IV told us after saying “if everyone had a father like I did, they’d want to be a kid forever.”
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, according to the ALS Foundation.
It is a cruel disease.
It is cruel and mean-spirited without conscience.
ALS is incurable.
Unwavering faith in his Lord and Savior
For Grant Singleton, it emerged in the face of a successful real estate career.
“In his weakest moment, I think he was as strong as he’d ever been,” said Michael Paschal, who remembered his long friendship with Grant Singleton that began on Skye Drive, where Grant Singleton became like one of the Paschal brothers. “He was honest. He had a style. Grant stood tall. He had a sense of humor, and he could tell a story.
“I never had a cross word with Grant.
“Grant was successful in everything he ever did, and the great thing about Grant was he never changed,” Paschal said. “He was in tune with God. He had a clarity” in his faith.
Bill Wiggs remembered his boyhood friend, too.
“Grant and I have been connected at the hip since birth,” he said, describing Grant Singleton as one of integrity. “He was trustworthy. He was an encourager. Continue looking forward to life, as Grant would encourage us to do.”
Rudolph Grantley Singleton III died May 7.
He was 60.
“I remember every conversation I had with Grant,” the Rev. Blake Benge said. “And I always wanted another conversation. There is no way someone like Grant can be removed from our lives without us mourning.”
Epilogue
“The last time I saw him,” Bill McFadyen told us, “he knew, and I knew.”
There would be no more Wine Time with friends gathering for conversation on Grant Singleton’s screen porch or by the fireplace hearth. No more conversations about the best lines in the films they loved to chat about in those waning days of Grant Singleton’s life.
“I would sit alone with Grant, and I got the best of Grant,” he said. “He was never bitter. He never said life was unfair. He said, ‘I have had a great life.’”
And for those Monday who filled the pews from the altar to the balcony at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church, Grant Singleton had a parting word he wished for Bill McFadyen to share before sending us on our way.
“He wanted you to know he had a great life, because of friends like you,” Bill McFadyen said. “Grant allowed me five minutes to tell you he was happy, and you’ve made it that way.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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