WHEREAS, Charles D. Grant passed away at the age of 87 on December 6, 2023, after serving Loudoun County for more than 50 years, and will be missed and remembered as a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, chaplain, pastor, volunteer, and a larger-than-life local legend; and

WHEREAS, as the founding pastor of Grace Baptist Church and Grace Christian Academy in Sterling, and at the request of the newly elected sheriff in 1979, Charles "Charlie" D. Grant established the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office chaplain program and faithfully served as its emergency services chaplain, the sole chaplain on-call 24 hours a day, for nearly 10 years; and

WHEREAS, Charlie Grant subsequently joined the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company and the Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad and founded the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue System chaplain program, faithfully serving those organizations for more than 40 years; in addition, he was the public safety chaplain for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, offering comfort and compassion to families in need; and

WHEREAS, Charlie Grant founded the faith-based nonprofit LINK, uniting several churches providing food for the underserved, and the Good Shepherd Alliance in 1983 to provide emergency housing and support for the unhoused; and

WHEREAS, through his unwavering compassion for others, Charlie Grant also recognized the need for access to transportation in the rural communities and helped to establish Virginia Regional Transit Authority; and

WHEREAS, Charlie Grant was elected to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors as the Broad Run District supervisor in November of 1991 and served one term from January 1992 to December 1995; and

WHEREAS, Charlie Grant considered his service to others a privilege rather than an obligation, and he received many awards such as the Stu Plitman First Responder Community Service Award in 2021, which recognizes emergency first responders who demonstrate the highest commitment to fostering positive relationships with the Loudoun County community in ways that enhance the safety and security of the citizens, and he was inducted into the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Hall of fame; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of Charles D. Grant, a true public servant with a kind and gentle heart and pillar of his community; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family and colleagues of Charles D. Grant as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for his contributions to the Commonwealth and respect for his memory.