Nancy Grant had never been a pageant contestant, but her mother insisted she give it a whirl when a competition was held in their hometown.
She was 17 at the time and didn't don any makeup for the event.
"It wasn't like she was one of the pageant girls of today -- that's what they live for," said daughter Abigail Grant Griswold of Marietta. "She wanted to enter the pageant because she had never done anything like that before, and she won."
In 1942, Mrs. Grant was crowned Miss Atlanta. That same year, she was also named Miss Health. As Miss Atlanta, she got to hobnob with dignitaries and stars who visited the city and once met Bob Hope.
Her days of pageantry were cut short, however as the country prepared for World War II. She was unable to compete nationally, though she apparently didn't mind.
"I never heard her say, ‘What if,'" her daughter said. "She always wanted a family because she was an only child, so I don't think not being able to compete in pageants bothered her, I really don't."
Nancy Shelton Grant died in her sleep Nov. 20 at Sunrise Assisted Living in Atlanta. She recently had undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. She was 86. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Cathedral of St. Phillip. H.M. Patterson & Son, Arlington Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Grant was an Atlanta native who grew up in Druid Hills, attended Bass Junior High and graduated from North Avenue Presbyterian High. At 19, she married her first husband but divorced a year later.
After the divorce, Mrs. Grant returned to lived with her parents and took an office job. She earned a degree at Draughon's Business College and worked in various capacities before she married her second husband of nearly 60 years, Ira U. Grant Jr. A World War II veteran, he died in December 2009.
After marriage, Mrs. Grant worked off and on at her father's restaurants, Shelton's, one of which was located on Peachtree Street.
"She loved helping him out because she was real friendly," said another daughter, Frosty Gunnis Brandon of Ormond Beach, Fla. "She would go to the grocery store and talk to everybody. She'd seek people out."
For years, she enjoyed painting china and ceramics. She decorated a 12-piece setting of golden white china and monogrammed it with the letter "G." The pieces, which had to be hand-washed, were only used on special occasions.
In earlier years, she'd been a Pink Lady for Piedmont Hospital. Mostly though, she enjoyed being a homemaker, her family said.
Additional survivors include another daughter, Ansley Grant Bloom of Dunwoody; a son, Stuart Gregory Grant of York, Pa.; eight grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
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