Grant, Corlyce J. age 79 of Ham Lake, passed away on October 2, 2024.

Corlyce was born on December 12, 1944, in Glenwood, Minnesota. She attended Kensington schools for grades 1-12. A farm girl with no athletic opportunities at the time, she filled her life with chores: milking, feeding, and baling hay. She was a horse owner and avid rider; her horses brought her joy for 60 years, starting with Champ, a big, spirited buckskin, and ending with Ahmaleero, a purebred Arabian. At Kensington High School, she was a cheerleader for four years, and as a senior, she was selected as the school homecoming queen.

Upon graduation, she attended the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM), where she graduated with a major in physical education and a minor in speech. She continued her cheerleading for another four years at UMM, and as a senior, she was again selected as the school homecoming queen.

While at Morris, she met Jerry, who became her husband for 59 years. The result of their marriage has been four wonderful children: Patty, Mike, Sean, and Shannon.

In 1964, while working a summer job at a Glenwood resort, she was selected as Waterama Queen, Waterama being an annual water festival on Lake Minnewaska in Glenwood, Minnesota. After graduation, her first teaching job was a two-year stint in Hector, Minnesota, as a girls' physical education teacher. Following that was a one-year position at the Moorhead State campus school while she attended graduate school at Moorhead State. In 1968, both she and Jerry were hired to teach physical education at Centennial Schools in Circle Pines, Minnesota, teaching in the junior high school. One of Corlyce's duties was gymnastics coach. This was the beginning of what would be a 45-year passion for the sport.

In 1972, she was hired at Saint Anthony Village High School as a physical education teacher and gymnastics coach, maintaining this position for 20 years before retiring. During this time, Saint Anthony became a powerhouse in both conference and state competitions. In addition to her coaching and teaching duties, she became a gymnastics official, judging in several state tournaments, and was recently honored as a 50-year Minnesota State High School League official. Along with this, she was inducted into the Minnesota State Coaches Association Hall of Fame, as well as the Minnesota Amateur Gymnastics Association Hall of Fame. Corlyce also received the Breaking Barriers Award for National Girls and Women in Sports Day in 2006, for being someone who helped break down "barriers to provide opportunities in sports for girls and women of all races, ages and levels of ability."

In Corlyce's retirement, you could find her making washcloth bunnies for people around Easter, making Christmas wreaths or ice candles for people in the winter,  delivering meals on wheels with friends from church, working out at Lifetime Fitness in Fridley, playing pickleball, dropping in at one of her children's houses, or watching one of her grandkids play a sport. She was one of a kind and will truly be missed.

A Visitation will be on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 from 5-8 PM at Thurston-DeShaw Funeral Home, 13817 Jay St. NW, Andover. The funeral will be on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 11 AM with a visitation one hour prior at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 61 Mississippi St. NE, Fridley.

Thurston-DeShaw Funeral Home - Andover, 763-767-7373 - www.thurston-deshaw.com