Grant Frederick Tolberd

Grant Frederick "Whitey" Tolberd passed into eternity on December 25, 2023. He was born into the hard-working family of Fred and Ethlyn (nee Lang) Tolberd on December 9, 1933, in Mankato, Minnesota. Grant joined the United States Air Force in the early 1950s and served his country in the Korean War, before beginning a lifelong career in aviation. He acquired the nickname "Whitey,” because of his white-blonde hair. This became Grant’s professional name in a career that included over thirty years of working as an executive for the Learjet Company, before branching out into founding his own jet consulting company. He traveled all over the world from its farthest points, both north to south and east to west, with his more than seven-decade career in aviation. Grant met Patricia Jean Rusk on January 21, 1954, and they were married on April 2, 1954. They began their family of three children in 1955 and bought a brand-new mid-century modern ranch house in 1958, where they continued to raise their family and live for the next sixty-five years. Grant was a strong leader, and always appreciated hearing and telling a good joke and had a wonderful sense of humor. He passed down a strong legacy and has a son, grandson and two great-grandsons who carry on his name. He lived a full and abundant life. His favorite times were spent at the lake with his family, boating, fishing, and mowing that lawn!He is survived by his beloved wife of nearly seventy years, Patricia, who survives of the home; and two daughters, Susan (Douglas) Steel of Lawrence, KS, Janet Brennan of Kansas City, MO; and a son, Jeffrey (Liz Ann) Tolberd of Wichita, KS; and nine grandchildren, Elizabeth (Deric) Goss of Shell Knob, MO, Melissa (Justin) Bourgeois of Bellevue, NE, William (Jin) Steel of McKinney, TX, Adam (Amber) Brennan of Smithville, MO, Allison (Steven) Young of Columbia, MO, Menley Brennan of Kansas City, MO, Ellie (Johnny) Tolberd Brown of Independence, MO, Rev. Jonathan Tolberd of Wichita, KS, and Olivia Tolberd of Lee's Summit, MO, as well as eleven great-grandchildren. He leaves behind two sisters, Marjory Fleming, Mankato, Minnesota, and JoAnn Probach, Mankato, Minnesota; a sister-in-law, Darlene Cox of Wichita, KS; a brother-in-law, Robert (Dian) Rusk of Wichita, KS; a brother-in-law, Kenneth (Elaine) Rusk of Wichita, KS; and several nieces and nephews, and many beloved extended family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, an infant granddaughter, and a brother-in-law.Funeral Service will be at 10:00 am, Friday, December 29, 2023, at Downing & Lahey East Mortuary. Graveside Service will follow at 1:00 pm, at Kansas Veterans' Cemetery, Winfield, KS.A memorial has been established with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Pl., Memphis, TN 38105.