Dr Mary Grant laid to rest
The former Member of the Council of State, Dr (Mrs) Mary Grant, was laid to rest at the Osu Cemetery in Accra after final funeral rites at the forecourt of the State House yesterday.
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The funeral service was attended by many dignitaries including President John Damiani Mahama and former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kuffour.
Also present were executive members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), members of the public, family and friends.
Tribute
In a tribute in her honour, President Mahama described Dr Grant as “many things rolled into one who pitched a stake as a pillar of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) tradition and distinguished herself by successfully presiding over two of the nations critical and important sectors: health and education.”
“She was to me a mother and more. She was one of the people I looked up to for inspiration and guidance as I made my foray into politics and public service,” he said.
Mr Mahama expressed his gratitude and that of the people of Ghana for her sacrifice and selfless service to the nation.
A tribute read on behalf of the Rawlings family described Dr Grant as a woman of impeccable probity with a passionate concern for social justice which she was said to pursued with selfless commitment and quiet determination.
In their tribute, members of the Council of State said Dr Grant was a woman of sterling qualities, a remarkable lover of peace and an accomplished medical practitioner.
After her appointment to the Council of State in 1993, “Dr Mary Grant brought to the council a considerable wealth of experience in public service and medical practice.”
Her children, in their tribute, said their mother had always been an extraordinary woman, managing to portray brilliance with simple warmth.
They said it was unnerving to hear of her achievements as a student, a medical doctor and a politician and marry all her roles with her personality as a family oriented woman.
She was said to have always reminded her family that charity began at home.
Tributes also poured in from many individuals and institutions including the forum of Senior Medical and Dental Practitioners Association, the Methodist Church, the Old Girls of the Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast and the Medical Women Association of Ghana.
President Mahama greeeting family members of Dr (Mrs)Mary Grant
Biography
Dr Mary Grant was born on August 6, 1928 at Elmina in the Central Region. She had her elementary education at the Elmina Methodist School and subsequently at the Obuasi Methodist school.
She continued with her secondary education at the Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast, and then to the University of the Gold Coast for her tertiary education before she qualified as a medical doctor at the University of Birmingham, UK, in 1959.
When she returned to Ghana in 1961, she worked as a medical practitioner at the Kintampo Rural Health Centre, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Labadi Polyclinic among other national health facilities.
Positions
She was Ghana's first female council of state member and also the first Wesley Girls High School alumni to be a medical doctor.
Dr (Mrs) Grant, a former member of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), died on Sunday, September 18, 2016 at the 37 Military Hospital at the age of 88.
She was appointed Deputy Secretary of Health in 1985 in the Jerry John Rawlings-led PNDC regime.
She was also a deputy Minister of Health at a time and a Minister of Education and Culture.