Grant Parcells

Grant unexpectedly passed away in the place he loved most, our cabin on the Gunflint Trail. He was finally getting excited about retirement. We spent Christmas to New Years there quietly and alone. Grant was sleeping in until 8am and drinking coffee until 10am. As anyone knows, this is not his typical 5am rise, and out the door with second cup of coffee no later than 7am. He said numerous times “I could get used to this.” He was only 66 and planning for the next 20 years with Laura. He even just got his dream truck, a new Ram 3500 less than a month ago. He was so proud of it and we took the maiden trip up to the cabin over the holidays in it. 

Grant was born in Minneapolis to Barb and Harold Parcells, and then moved with his Mom and dear stepdad Kenny to small town Tracy, MN. He moved to the Twin Cities after finishing high school in Tracy to start his carpentry career. He learned a lot and worked for a few companies eventually focusing on home remodeling. His decades of experience meant he started leading more complicated projects which he became sought out for. He loved being told “you can’t do that” and figuring out a practical and beautiful way to solve the problem. His dream was to own his own company and in 2009 he started Zinran Construction Services, Inc. It was so exciting, and he loved it. Not so much the paperwork for projects, but Laura took that on and they made a great team. 

As most people know, Laura met Grant as she hired Streeter & Associates, the builder of her house, to do a project. Scott Harris said he was going to “hand pick” the “best field supervisor” to lead it. Well, Grant was the only field supervisor at the time, but she still hit the jackpot. Grant didn’t ask Laura out until the project was completed, but he still got teased often about dating a client. Their first date was breakfast 1/31/99 and Laura didn’t even know it was a date, she thought they were discussing options for more work. Yikes, awkward! They married 4/10/10 in the beautiful sunken garden at Como Park because Laura was a Master Gardener and Grant didn’t think she could ever accept their backyard as being perfect enough for a wedding. 

They first lived together in Eagan in that house that Grant built the addition on. Many of his friends then helped on weekends as we continued to transform the property and even built a “potting shed” for Laura in the yard. Of course it was big, with a cantilevered deck, picture windows, sliding patio door matched to the house, etc. so it was the beginning of a pattern. Grant would invite the guys over on the weekends to help and Laura would cook for them. It eventually escalated from brats and spaghetti to steak and salmon on the grill… but hey, they always showed up! 

They next built their dream home in Woodbury. It was designed to be retirement friendly with wide openings, and an elevator that the neighborhood kids were fascinated by and loved riding in. So many details, and Grant (and Laura!) loved giving tours and pointing out all the special features they designed in. Grant had an awesome shop behind the garage and Laura got her dream kitchen. It was designed to be their forever home. 

Laura introduced Grant to “up north” and even though he was a lifelong Minnesotan (Laura was not), he had never been. Started with Duluth, but of course expanded to Ely, Grand Marais, and everywhere in between. They went more and more often, and started spending multiple weeks a year along the Gunflint Trail making friends and staying at many resorts. They decided to start looking for a small cabin for themselves. The rest was history. It took 3 years of looking which was so fun! And it was before the market tightened and Covid happened. They were very lucky to have choices and found one.

On 6/1/2015 they closed on paradise. 32 acres at the end of the road surrounded on 3 sides by the BWCA. It was really a house, not a cabin, but that allowed us to have friends stay often. And there were many outbuildings. Laura was not excited. They all needed work, music to Grant’s ears. They all needed siding, painting, roofs, additions. He build a large pole barn building to be his dream shop and house his equipment and tools. I know everyone has seen photos. We accomplished the majority of big things and only have maybe 2 summers worth left, depending on our key partner and friend up there Curly Smith. 

A key story is the “screen porch”. Laura convinced Grant to sign up for 14 days doing a volunteer building project using timber frame technique at Chik Wauk museum. He loved it! As a carpenter by trade he loved learning the ancient way to build. He built the building with the volunteer team at North House Folk School and then returned to volunteer when it was time to raise it on site at Chik Wauk. So then he took the class at North House to build what was going to be our “screen porch”. You know where this is going… It ended up on a skid with an insulated, slate floor. Curly may never forget that he sided with Laura that the floor had to be slate, but the mosaic format added SO MUCH work! But man it is gorgeous. Then Anderson windows. Insulated walls and roof. An antique wood stove he bought and had restored. Then added electricity which allowed ceiling fans and wifi. Just like the “potting shed”, the screen porch became a beautiful room which you could get to 75 degrees quickly on a -20 day and enjoy watching the snow fall. It was his favorite place to just sit and relax and watch the birds and the lake. He sat out there almost every day he was up there. Just this summer he finished the adjacent woodshed which of course ended up finished, sided, and with a barn door. He was so creative and had such an eye for detail and making beautiful solutions with his hands. There are many many stories like that over our 10 years at the cabin. 

Once we had the cabin, the dream house was too big and took too much time and energy away from the cabin, so we sold it and bought a townhouse in Woodbury. The floor plan was perfect and allowed Grant and Laura to both have home office spaces apart for privacy and quiet. But just like before… major renovations had to occur. Everything in the townhouse except the cabinets were replaced. And even the cabinets were discussed at one point. I mean floors, countertops, doors, plumbing, lighting all redone to our taste and even more cabinets added. It is completely different. One of the most fun was removing the walls around the stairway down and Grant designed an open, contemporary steel cable railing instead. His dear friend David Poyser worked there on and off for a year while the house was up for sale so that we didn’t have to live through most of the disruption. Just like the house, Laura can look at things and see Grant’s influence everywhere. 

Grant already had a list of projects he wanted to build at the cabin as he was easing into retirement over the next 12-18 months. He worked so hard to get there, and was already spending longer visits. He and Laura had started discussing road trip ideas to start traveling more now that he could. Life can be so unfair that he didn’t get to enjoy what all his hard work provided. 

Grant is preceded in death by his dear sister-in-law Julie, and his close friends Scott Harris and David Poyser. Julie called him WBH: World’s Best Husband and he truly was. I am sure she will love being reunited with him. And I have no doubt that Grant will be working on fun projects with Scott and David very soon. Our cats Vixen, Romeo, Hillary, Bill, and Alex will be there to greet him; He was a fantastic cat daddy. His parents Barb, Harold, and Kenny also predeceased him. 

Grant is survived by his beloved wife Laura, his exceptional daughters Simone Parcells and Maddie Worm, and their mother, his former wife Deb Parcells-Spolarich. He also leaves behind his brothers Mark Harris (Maggie Fruetel) and Scott Parcells (Phyllis Douglas), and his sister Kathy Reed. He has many many friends but special friends Todd (Michele) Wildenauer and Charlie Wildenauer (Dawn Bruesehoff) became adopted family and will miss his long chats in the screen porch and his advice on projects. Our cat Elsie misses him already.

He was an outstanding husband, father, brother, friend and leaves a huge hole in the hearts of many people. He was the love of Laura’s life, and they had so many plans! He always said he was the lucky one, but it was mutual. 

There will be celebration of Grant’s life as follows: 

Thursday, January 23, 2025. 10:30am - 2:30pm
Lake Elmo Inn Event Center
3712 Layton Ave. N.
Lake Elmo, MN 55402. 

It will be a drop in with no formal planned service. However, around noon, if you would like to share a story about Grant, that would be very welcome. Just like Grant, there will be a simple delicious lunch buffet available throughout, nothing fancy. A coffee and hot chocolate bar because he loved his caffeine. And a dessert bar because he loved his sweets. Low key and casual. Please come in your favorite Carhaart and Duluth Trader clothes, Grant’s usual attire. 

Instead of flowers, if you’d like to donate in Grant’s memory, here are some places that were close to his heart in no particular order. 

Hamilton Habitat
https://hamiltonhabitat.wordpress.com
Building affordable housing in Grand Marais completely by donations.
We have supported and Grant wanted to volunteer there soon.
Run by friends Sarah and Anna Hamilton.
Hamilton Habitat (Tax ID: 84-4333414)
PO Box 1354
Grand Marais MN 55604

The Wildcat Sanctuary
https://www.wildcatsanctuary.org
A rescue for wild cats: big cats (tigers, lions, etc), small and medium (caracals, ocelots, etc) and small hybrids (savannahs, F1 bengals, etc) completely by donations. We have supported and visited, an amazing place. We had just discussed Grant joining a summer habitat crew, Laura on the gardens
The Wildcat Sanctuary (Tax ID: 22-3857401)
PO Box 314
Sandstone, MN 55072

EPC Hope fund
https://www.eaganpetclinic.com/epc-hope-fund.pml
Eagan Pet clinic Hope Fund. (Not a 501c)
Helps cover veterinary costs for people short of funds to care for their pets. All of our cats have gone to this vet clinic, best ever! Laura has been using them since 1983. Jessica, one of the owners is a friend.

EPC Hope fund
Eagan Pet Clinic
4395 Rahn Road
Eagan, MN 55122

North House Folk School
https://northhouse.org
Passing on the valuable skills of craft, one class at a time
One of the country’s best timber frame skill leaning sites
Peter Henrikson taught Grant timber framing and helped rebuild Notre Dame!
He also helped us raise the screen porch.
Grant was looking forward to more woodworking classes. Laura has taken several bread & baking classes, and the Master Naturalist course there. 

North House Folk School (Tax ID: 41-1878887)
PO Box 759
Grand Marais MN 55604

Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department
http://www.gunflint911.org/donations.cfm
An essential resource keeping the Gunflint Trail safe
Completely run by donations. All volunteer. They are amazing. They respond to structure and wildland fires, medical emergencies, and search and rescue.
Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department (EIN: 83-1188943)
7401 Gunflint Trail
Grand Marais, MN 55604

Thank you for your love and friendship with Grant. He had so many friends and his big heart held them all close. I know he appreciated every single relationship. We were all blessed to have him in our circle.