Michael Cantlay Grant

Michael Cantlay Grant, Mike, died suddenly at his home in Santa Fe New Mexico on December 7, 2020.He was born in Perth County, Scotland to Alexanderina and Angus Kennedy Graham Grant on September 15, 1949. He spent the first 6 years of his life in a small house in the seaside town of Ayr located only a block from the sea. As a young boy he explored the broad beach and played with the crashing waves at every opportunity.

Inspired by his father, Angus, Mike fell in love with nature and the outdoors. He and his family traveled throughout the UK and parts of Europe, most often roughing it with stories of long wet nights in the elements.

As a youth, he participated in the Duke of Edinburgh scouting program and underwent many strenuous outdoor activities, one being an arduous solo hike that he had to navigate on his own to achieve a coveted D of E badge.

Mike attended Edinburgh University at age 17 and graduated with honors in Pure Mathematics, Mathematical Physics and Computer Science with special interest in artificial intelligence. He later received his MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Before leaving the UK, he worked as lead programmer analyst for British Airways and trained programming staff with KLM, Swissair, United Airlines and a number of other airlines.

An outdoorsman and naturalist at heart, the majesty of the Rocky Mountains and the beauty and expansiveness of Colorado called to him. It was an opportune time for him with the Denver Tech Center just emerging and Mike taking a position as lead programmer analyst.

He explored the mountains and wildlife of Colorado and continued to develop his interest in photography and videography.

Mike became a US citizen in 1982, one of the highlights of his life!

Mike’s professional experience included working with Associates Financial Services for 7 years, then becoming the Director of Technology for the Visa Plus Systems .After that he worked with Associates Financial in Dallas; he then worked with Booz Allen as IT leader and developed the Mexican Federal Election System.

For the next 15 years he was a Partner with AT Kearney in Strategic Information Technology. In 2009 he became an Independent Business Consultant and provided coaching to Business and IT leaders.

During Mike’s career, he was able to work in countries all over the world which inspired him to travel even more, another of his great loves. Scotland, New Zealand and the American West were very special places for him, he loved that natural rugged beauty he grew up with.

Mike’s interests were many and varied, he loved art and opera especially Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Food and wine were on the top of his list of things to enjoy and he was a great wine connoisseur as well as a gourmand and great chef- we enjoyed many wonderful meals together sharing in planning and preparation.

Always enthralled by nature and hiking wherever we went, Montana and Wyoming were some favorite places especially in the Spring. He enjoyed birding during Covid time and watched numerous baby bluebirds come to our feeders and fountain in the spring.

Along with his deep appreciation of nature and wildlife, gardening and creating beautiful natural spaces was important and we planted 1500 bulbs this past fall.

He loved sports and was an avid soccer player and scuba diving was a passion for many years as well as tennis.

However, The All Blacks, and a good rugby game probably sat at the top of the list.

Mike was always a joy to be around full of humor, wit and good spirit.

He was a loving passionate husband and an incredible friend.

I think of this quote that describes him so well, “life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away”.

And that’s what he wanted and how he lived.

Mike is survived by his wife Stephanie Grant and his cousin Bobby Cantlay of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Contributions can be made in memory of Mike Grant to The Las Campanas Community Fund/The Santa Fe Community Foundation at PO Box 1827, Santa Fe, NM 87504-1827 and/ or The Cancer Foundation of New Mexico.