Dundee and Angus bookmaker Jack Grant of GP Grant Promotions has died aged 90, quietly at Lunan Court in Arbroath.
Born in Princes Street, Dundee, in December 1931 to George and Ella Grant, Jack grew up with siblings George and Dorothy.
Educated at Wallacetown primary and Dundee High School he went into the family business of sporting promotions and bookmaking.
Off-course betting being illegal until 1963, the family operated as sporting promoters.
Jack’s father, Dundee sporting impresario George P. Grant, famously hosted the world’s first open-air world championship boxing match at Hampden Park, Glasgow, in 1953 between flyweights Jackie Patterson and Joe Currran.
However, this line of business brought some unwanted attention in 1953 when Jack was 22.
A criminal gang ordered Jack’s father George to hand over £3000 to prevent harm to his son.
The would-be extortionist was former boxer John George Owens, 26, of Dundee, who was caught in a sting set by police and Jack’s father.
Owens ordered Mr Grant to wrap the £3000 in brown paper and have Jack drop it by a lamppost near Dundee ice rink on Kingsway.
However, police swooped when Owens, a father of three, stopped to pick up the cash.
He was arrested and faced trial at the high court in Dundee. Owens was found guilty of trying to extort money from George P Grant and threatening violence to his son.
He was jailed for two years.
Jack went on to run the family business of betting offices around Angus while also competing at a high level in curling against the likes of Chuck Hay and Bill Muirhead.
Alongside his siblings George and Dorothy he skipped the winning team in the British Open curling championship in 1966.
His son Marcus was christened in the salver in their home in Taymouth Street, Carnoustie.
Also a keen golfer he was a member at Carnoustie, Taymouth and the Caledonia clubs in the Angus town.
He was also uncle to professional golfers Dean and Lee Vannet, their sister Stacey, and George’s daughters Karen and Melissa.
Jack is survived by his wife of 59 years, Bunty, and his sons Darius, now of New York, and Marcus, of London.
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