Grant Royer Burford

Early in the morning of November 28, 2016 in Gladstone Oregon at the age of 83 years, Grant (Bud) Royer Burford Jr. left his mortal body to join his wife and forever love, Helen. Though the primary cause of death was due to a short struggle with dementia, Grant passed peacefully in his sleep after a day of being surrounded by his loved ones, survivors and care providers at Golden Heart ACH. Grant was born to Maribel Burford (DeGraff) (1908-1999) and Grant Royer Burford Sr. (1899-1963) May 9, 1933 in Seattle, WA. His family moved around quite a bit when he was young, even living on a houseboat. In 1953 at the age of 20 he would meet the love of his life Helen Sauter while roller skating at Oaks Park in Sellwood. It was love at first sight and they were to be married soon after on Feb. 6, 1953. However, shortly after they joined hands and began their life together, not even a month later, Grant enlisted in the US military. He served in the Korean war. He was placed into inactive duty in 1955 and honorably discharged in 1961. When he returned from Korea it wasn\u0027t long before he and Helen would build a house with the help of her parents on their property in Milwaukie. Just around the corner from where she and her family had lived most all their lives. It was there they would start a family of their own and spend the remainder of their lives. He worked 30 plus years at the United Grocers in Milwaukie, starting out in the warehouse. Grant worked his way up and became the candy buyer or \u0027the candy man\u0027 (he always had quite the sweet tooth). He retired as a candy buyer but the retired life wasn\u0027t exactly for a workaholic like Grant, it wasn\u0027t long before he decided to go back to work, taking a job managing a warehouse and setting up displays for various companies through Koval Williamson in Clackamas. He finally decided to truly retire in 2012, shortly before losing his wife March 29, 2013. Although Grant and Helen lived their entire marriage in the same house, they would enjoy long weekend trips to the Oregon coast, where they spent many nights in his half sister Polly\u0027s (1926-2012) beach house in Pacific City. Bud (his lifelong nickname) was involved in many things in his life but one of his greatest passions was always cars. You name it, from model cars, to custom show vans and lowrider trucks. It was something that never left, even his last days behind the wheel were spent driving a truck any man would be proud to own and his passion didn\u0027t end with vehicles, Bud was also very tech savvy. Even into his late years, you couldn\u0027t find him without the fanciest gadget in his hand, or some good old Nascar or a Blazer game on the newest big screen TV. He was always taking that next step to stay advanced but he wasn\u0027t afraid to pull out his swiss army pocket knife in the middle of the restaurant in order to cut a hole in the lid of his soda for the proper placement of the straw. Bottom line, he liked things a certain way but he wanted it for everyone, as much as he focused on his hobbies it was nothing in comparison to what he shared. Bud was well loved and liked by not only his family and friends but that of his coworkers, neighbors and just about anyone he encountered, because that\u0027s what radiated from him. Grant and Helen had three children, all of which survive them, Debbi (Mike) McGuyer, Daniel (Cindy) Burford and Scott Burford. They\u0027re also survived by their grandchildren, Jeramy Burford, Heather Casillas, Kyle Burford and Jordan (Ashley) Burford and by their great grandchild Kiara Casillas. The service for Grant will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday, January 7, 2017 at Clackamas Bible Church, 15655 SE Johnson Rd., Clackamas, OR 97015. Condolences may be shared with his family through this online guestbook."",