Quinley Grant

Quinley Elaine Grant was born in Singapore on (as she would say) 6^th of the December 2017.  Her first home was located at Summerhill and she was the summer of our family, warm and full of light.  Her first name Quinley means wisdom and she always seemed wise beyond her years, reminding our family to pray, treat each other with respect and correcting her father if he teased too much.  Her middle name Elaine means light.  She brought so much light to the people around her.  She loved to laugh and to us it is the best sound in the world.  We all felt like we were Quinley’s favorite person.  She had a way of valuing people and their feelings which made you feel deeply loved. 

At the age of one and a half she moved to New Zealand with her family and fell in love with a local NZ band SIX60.  Her favorite song is “All She Wrote.”  She was mostly a Kiwi at heart.  She loved nursery, neighborhood friends, and starting preschool.  She was a great hiking buddy to her mother and savored time in nature with beautiful flaulaus (flowers) and fantail birds.

At age 3 she was diagnosed with a terminal brain stem tumor (Diffuse Midline Glioma).  She took her diagnosis in stride, insisting after reading get well cards from her primary that she was not sick.  The day after her brain biopsy she was hopping around the hospital and scaring her mother and father. She was after all, in her own words, a practical genius.  She was helped on her journey by her Make-A-Wish shih tzu puppy Archie, who she insists is a member of the family, as well as Grandpa and Grandma Joni and Marlin Grant who defied the odds and came to NZ during COVID level 4 lockdown.

She underwent radiotherapy and after losing the back of her hair and feeling really tired and floppy, she started to bounce back.  With focus and determination she learned to ride her bike, started swimming lessons, played the piano, learned to read and write and went back to preschool (kindy in NZ).  She loved building with blocks and magnatiles, doing puzzles, practicing gymnastic moves, writing sweet notes, and drawing pictures.  One of her favorite things to do with her family was go camping and roast marshmallows. She cherished travelling to and receiving visits from her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

She graduated kindergarten and started Year 1 at Parkland Primary School.  As a room 6 Super Star, she was able to learn NZ sign language, participate in the cross country race and take 6^th place and perform in the Parkland school production.  We will always be grateful for her best friends who came from this class and loved her just the way she was.

At the age of 5 she moved to Logan, Utah to be closer to family.  Unfortunately, after 2 years of a stable condition, her brain tumor began to grow again.  Despite radiation and a clinical trial drug her tumor did not shrink.  Three weeks before passing away she had a bleed into her tumor which caused swelling on her brain.  After rallying her strength to celebrate her golden birthday with family, she left her mortal body on the 18^th of December 2023.

She is survived by her older siblings Desmond (14) and Aliya (11), her father Dixon Grant and her mother Chelsea Bush Grant.  She will also be greatly missed by all her “guys” (stuffed animals and dolls she mothered with all the care in her heart) Dolly, Chee Chee, PomPom, Strawberry Flaulau, Floppy, Sofia, Elly, Izzy, Chunky, Pinky, Babs and Lily.

We are extremely grateful for the incredible teams who managed her care at Starship Children’s Hospital (Auckland), Te Whatu Ora (Palmerston North), Primary Children’s Hospital (Salt Lake City), and Children’s Hospital Colorado (Denver).  She loved her doctors and nurses and always found a way into everyone’s hearts. 

An informal viewing will be held at her home 201 Stirling Pl, Logan, UT 84341 Wednesday and Thursday the 20^th and 21^st of December.  Her funeral will be held at Allen Hall Mortuary on Friday December 22^nd at 11:00 am. 

The funeral service will be livestreamed and can be viewed via the link below (password: Quinley)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83445105007?pwd=TU1iRVFoZGRVbEsyRHRuOUphTzZRdz09

In lieu of flowers, please donate to organizations that assisted Quinley in her journey.

Rally Foundation (Childhood Cancer Research)

Make-A-Wish

Angel MedFlight

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation