Jean Grant (neeCosman) passed away unexpectedly on September 25, 2026, at the age of 95. Beloved mother of Michael, Tara and David (Bernadette Wenzell) and adored grandmother of Nathan, Sara (Tyler Ashe) and Thomas. Raised in New Brunswick, the daughter of Austin Cosman and Margaret McCann, she is the last of five siblings: Margaret Annis (Ralph), William “Billie” Cosman (Margaret Quigley), Mary Ann Bailey (Ronald) and Austin “Freddie” Cosman (Barbara Lefait).
Jean played basketball in high school, and she was a fierce guard and Captain of the team. The McAdam HS team was so good they played against the University of New Brunswick team. Her team perfected a low passing toss as the high school gym had a very low ceiling. She trained as a nurse at the St John General Hospital graduating in 1952. She was very proud of her career as a nurse. She loved working in the operating theatre and the nursery.
Jean met the love of her life, Michael Alexander Grant, a RCAF pilot at 3-Wing in Zweibrucken, West Germany while visiting her sister Margaret. After a whirlwind courtship they were married in Zweibrucken in 1955 and her first child, Michael, was born there in 1956. They returned to Ottawa where her daughter Tara (1958) and son David (1960) were born. When Mike was on a flight exchange in Patuxent River, MD Jean played bridge with the Apollo astronauts and their wives. Jean was widowed in 1964 when Mike’s plane crashed while testing a new altimeter.
Settling in Ottawa, Jean returned to her nursing career, working at the Civic Hospital and a TB clinic, before spending a year at Ottawa University getting her Public Health degree. She became a school nurse working at Vincent Massey, Pleasant Park and BelAir Public schools. When school nurses were abolished, she moved to Ottawa Public Health until she retired in 1989.
Jean loved to entertain and was an excellent cook and even better baker. She was happy throwing elaborate dinner parties or receptions for 100 people and would rope in friends to make tiny tea sandwiches with no crusts and other delights.
She loved driving her car and regularly made the 11-hour trip to NB in one day. After her heart attack at 75 she took two days to do the trip.
She loved her grandchildren and spoilt them rotten. Hand-knit sweaters, jams and apple jelly, elaborately decorated birthday cakes and a Christmas tree that disappeared under the gifts. Her grandson Nathan proudly told his teacher that his grandmother “would make him anything he wanted”.
She was a nurturer, fiercely independent, courageous and strong. Her sudden passing is a shock and a sorrow to all who loved her. She will be dearly missed but will live on in memory. Always in our hearts
A private family interment to be held at a later date.
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