Honorable Don Grant was born on August 8, 1924 in Lincoln, Neb. and was raised by a single mother. He attended Bancroft and Elliot Grade Schools, Irving Jr. High and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1942. He started college at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) in the fall, was drafted into the US Army, completed OCS, commissioned a Second Lieutenant, fought in and survived the Battle of Okinawa, receiving the Purple Heart. Don earned his B.A. degree in 1948, and his LLB from UNL’s School of Law in 1952. Don started his law practice in 1954, was appointed as Municipal Court Judge in 1971 and retired as a County Court Judge in 1995. Don was the father of two sons, David and Roger, and was active in his Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) and served on numerous boards throughout the community (YMCA, Lincoln- Lancaster Mental Health Clinic Association and Community- Citizens Prison Advisory Committee, to name a few). From “Don Grant the Homerun King” in American Legion baseball to the “Flying Judge” in aerobatics, Don was also an avid sportsman throughout his life. He enjoyed playing volleyball and tennis, and loved owning and flying airplanes! He was a founding member of the Lincoln Volleyball Club, now the Great Plains Regional Volleyball Association. Don passed away on the 25th of January 2019, at age 94 and almost 1/2 years.

The youngest of six children growing up in a Catholic family, Dr. Carmen Hill Grant was born on February 10, 1935 in Denver, CO. She attended Mountain View Grade School, Wheat Ridge Jr. High and graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in 1953. Carmen earned her B.A. at University of Colorado, Boulder in 1957 and her Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1967. She served as a staff psychologist at the University of Nebraska Health Center 1964-67, as clinical psychologist and clinic coordinator from 1967-1970, and as clinical psychologist/outreach staff coordinator from 1970-1978. She worked in private practice from 1978 until her retirement in 2005. Dr. Grant’s many contributions to the field of psychology include serving as member of the University Nebraska Task Force on Drug Education 1972-1975; as president, secretary, board of directors for the Nebraska Society of Professional Psychologists, Lincoln, 1985-1988; as president of the Nebraska Psychological Association, 1992-1994; and as vice chair, member for the State Board of Psychologists, 1997-2004. Carmen began playing tennis at age 10 and played competitive tournament tennis in Colorado, Nebraska and the Midwest until 2015. From 2008 to 2017 she was a founding member and President of Friends of Woods Tennis, working with the City and Lincoln Parks and Recreation to replace the “aging bubbles” with the present Woods Tennis Center. Although no longer actively playing tennis or golf, she still enjoys watching tennis, volleyball, football and other sports.

Carmen met Don while playing tennis while she was in graduate school, and they married in 1964. Don and Carmen traveled extensively throughout the United States, Canada and abroad: The United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Morocco and the then, Soviet Union. A long-time supporter of Pius X High School, Carmen established the Don and Carmen Grant Scholarship to make a Pius X education available to current students and future generations.