Date of Birth: June 06, 1938
Date of Death: January 15, 2010
Visitation: 4:00 to 8:00PM Monday 1-18-2010 @ the funeral home
Services: 11:00 AM Tuesday 1-19-2010 @ Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Obituary:

Grant Albert Oakes II

Born to Grant Albert Oakes, Sr., and Bernice Helen Oakes, on June 6, 1938, in Warren, Ohio.  He was an only child.  He graduated from Lakeview School District, Cortland, Ohio, in 1956.  He married and had 3 children, Grant A. Oakes III, Debra R. Oakes (Holko) and Gregory A. Oakes.

Grant was a man who was an entrepreneur in his own right.  His grandfather, Andrew L. Oakes, his father and his uncle Arthur A. Oakes, started Oakes Foundry Inc., back in the late '20's.  Grant bought the Foundry from his grandmother after the grandfather, father and uncle passed away.  The Foundry is still owned by the Oakes family (Fourth Generation) and in business in the 'Golden Triangle' of Warren, Ohio. In 1963, Grant started his own business, Service Guide Incorporated, in Cortland, Ohio.  It has grown from a one man band to approximately 145 employees today.  The main plant has expanded to 2 major buildings, the second also in the 'Golden Triangle'.  He started out servicing guides for the steel and aluminum mills, where he patented 'refurbishing' steel rolling mill parts and aluminum mill parts, hence the name Service Guide.  While starting the business (SGI) in Cortland, he also was self propelled to put in a Yacht Club at Mosquito Lake.  It took him 18 years to put it all together, 5 years just hauling brick to put on the outer banks of the Marina.  At the high point, there were 354 boats in the Marina with a waiting list.

Grant has been an avid enthusiast since high school where cars were concerned.  He belonged to car clubs in the mid '50's but left them behind while he started his business (SGI) and worked on the Marina.  Then in 1996, he went back into the car and truck clubs, having a collection of up to 12 cars; his main love being the 1932 Fords.  He had 10 total: Cabriolet, Roadster, B400, 3 Window Coupe, Phaeton, Woodie Wagon, Ute Pick-up, 4-Door, Tudor and '32 Sports Rod.  His other interests were the '49 Lead Sled, '54 Crestliner, the '55 GMC Pick-up and his favourite '55 Mack Truck. Another self taught interest was the love of Antiques.  He learned the different periods of styles, the years for the styles and the 'combinations' of the lighting and furniture critiques.  He was self taught in how to chemically refresh the old, tarnished, damaged lamp bases/parts to make them look like the original, whether they were gold, black or the combination of the two.  He made sure to plug holes so you couldn't tell where people drilled and ran wires to electrify.  He could tell if the glassware was 'old' or 'new'. He could tell if the lamp parts, etc...were of the period or if they were 'reproductions'.

Grant was an active member of the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, in Cortland, Ohio.  His tributes in his quiet, low-key contributions that have helped the community in many ways are his donations for the Fireworks for the community every year since 1996, his contributions to several community functions/activities like Imagination Station, park benches, Cancer drives, and a PA system for LOAF.

He and his wife, Mary have been together for 19 years.  They have (combined) 4 sons: Grant (Mary), Gregory, Scott (Tracy) and Jason and 2 daughters: Debra (Richard Holko) and Kelli (Tim Noble).  They have (combined) 11 granddaughters: Teresa, Anna Marie, Elaina, Ashley, Gina, Alyssa, Alexis, Morgan, Natalie, Tyler and Samantha and 2 grandsons: Andrew and Tegun.  Anyone who really knew him will surely miss him. He was a 'One of a Kind' man who knew who he was and what the world around him should be.

Funeral Services will be held at 11:00AM Tuesday 1-19-10 @ the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Warren. Friends may call from 4:00-8:00PM Monday afternoon & evening @ the Carl W. Hall Funeral Home and again from 10:00AM until service time at the church on Tuesday.

In lieu of flowers, family and friends may send donations to: Prince of Peace Lutheran Church % Grant A. Oakes Memorial Fund, 490 High St. Cortland, Ohio 44410