MORGANTOWN Pay a visit to the house of Brad and Diana Pearson in Morgantown, and two things are immediately obvious: the decor exudes the warmth of the people who call it home, and the Pearsons adore their son Grant Pearson. The walls are covered in framed photographs capturing Grant at various life stages. Tragically, Grant was killed in a car accident on Dec. 12, 2015, at the age of 27. Though he is gone, he continues to have an impact on the lives of others. One way is through fantasy football. Grant was a member of the Limestone League for four years. His second year, his parents joined the competition. Fantasy football “Diana and I started watching him and seeing how involved he was and how much fun they were having, and so the next year they had an opening so we started playing,” Brad said. And discussion of fantasy football became a common feature at family gatherings, something that perplexed Brad’s brother and sister-in-law, Craig and Kerry Pearson. Brad said the rest of them would be talking fantasy football jargon and it was like a foreign tongue to them. Trash talking is a big part of fantasy football and the Limestone League “A lot of our family get-togethers around Thanksgiving and Christmas involved trash talking about the fantasy football teams of each of us — my nephews, and of course Grant. When Grant passed, I asked my brother and sister-in-law if in honor of Grant they’d take over his team. And they did. And they managed to be the winners this year,” Brad said. Brad requested that his brother and sister-in-law not change the name of Grant’s team from Clever Team Name and that they keep his keeper player, Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson. A keeper is a player from the current season that the team holds onto for the next season. Diana said Grant’s team started slow, but everything worked out and it managed to make it to the playoffs and ended up winning the whole thing. “They had a lot of Atlanta Falcons team members, and one week they were on bye, so they lost about four or five team members but they didn’t even fill the roster and they still won,” Diana said. Diana said she came home the Thursday before Grant died and Grant was really excited because his team had done so well. After Grant swapped Eddie Lacy for Adrian Peterson, his team got hot and made the playoffs. Out of respect for Grant, opponents of his team pulled their players so that Grant’s team would move on. But Brad said that Grant’s team was going to win anyway. “I was calculating it myself as to what the scores really were, and he beat them anyway. He beat everyone anyway. It didn’t really matter. So I was kind of glad of that. I made sure everyone knew that. It was a nice gesture that they did, but he was gonna win it, regardless. That made it more legit,” Brad said. At this year’s draft, Brad proposed that the winning owner would select a charity of their choice and donate whatever amount they chose and Brad and Diana would match it. Grant’s team won again this year, and Craig and Kerry Pearson selected the Children’s Organ Transplant Association, a national nonprofit group headquartered in Bloomington, as their charity of choice. “When I started researching the organization, I don’t see how he could have made a better choice. It sounds pretty neat,” Brad said. Brad and Diana plan to donate $500 to COTA later this month. The organization helps children and young adults who need organ transplants with fundraising assistance and family support. Grant Pearson, the individual Grant took after both of his parents. His father, Brad, played basketball in high school and played alongside Terry Stotts on a Bloomington North team that won sectionals. Grant played basketball at Indian Creek High School. His mother, Diana, is the daughter of a pastor and grew up singing in church. Grant had a real passion for music and would amaze his parents with the facts he knew about various bands and artists. Grant loved music, especially from the 1970s. He played bass in a ’70s-influenced band in high school called the Modern Dukes. Brad joked that Grant unfortunately inherited his singing voice from him instead of his mother. The Modern Dukes had memorabilia made up, including shirts and stickers. “My nephew Erik (Pearson) asked me if we had one of his shirts and that he would like to have it. He coaches at Bloomington North, and he wears that shirt under the baseball uniform at their games all the time. It’s just kind of something that he likes doing, keeping Grant with him, so to speak,” Brad said. Brad said Grant was a sweet boy. The last night of his life, he traded a lengthy series of texts with his uncle about an impending surgery his uncle was worried about. “My brother read them at Grant’s funeral,” Brad said. “They went back and forth. Diana’s father was a minister and he passed away in 1995. I swear, it was like if her dad or Chris Page (the pastor at the church the Pearsons attend, Hoosier Harvest) was counseling my brother. This was our son doing it. At the end he told him, ‘Everything’s gonna be all right. And if it’s not, you’ll be with Pops,’ that’s my dad who had just passed away six months earlier. I was so proud of that. I just didn’t realize how much comfort that brought to my brother, but that was just him.” Grant loved to help others. Following high school, he attended Indiana State University, where he studied human resources. He enjoyed working in the field, but hated having to fire people. When he interned at IU Proton Health Therapy, he would go around to the other side of the building on the way to his office to speak to patients and say good morning. Grant especially liked to talk to children. He won intern of the year during his time there. Brad said that before he passed away, Grant had gotten involved at Emmanuel Church in Greenwood and served as a parking lot greeter. He’d also become part of a small social group around his age. Brad said the group attended the funeral, and they and others who didn’t know each other kept telling him the same thing about Grant, that he was a great listener. “They said that when Grant was talking to you, whatever you were talking about was the most important thing in the world,” Brad said. Though Grant has died, he continues to touch the lives of others. The Pearsons hope that their donation will inspire others to take up a charitable cause or otherwise match their efforts, helping to extend Grant Pearson’s legacy.

MARTINSVILLE Gentry Martial Arts hosted a course on Saturday designed to teach participants the skills they needed to survive an active shooting scenario. The students learned how to treat a variety of trauma and injuries caused by gunshots. Most gunshot wounds are survivable, but victims often bleed to death before they can be given treatment. Paramedics aren’t permitted to enter a building where there is an active shooter situation until it has been cleared. Making these types of survival and first aid skills helps reduce the mortality rates. Despite the serious subject, participants in the class on Saturday were chatty and at times hammed things up during the scenarios instructor Mark Wilson, medical training manager for the 123rd Special Tactics Squadron at Kentucky Air National Guard, had them run. “We had a very enthusiastic group and very attentive. I think they learned a lot today,” Wilson said. “With this class, I have found more often than not that everyone seems to be very invested in the class. It’s a class that they are seeking out. With the threats that are going on today, with the prevalence of active shooter events, I think once this course is out there and offered, people who are like-minded like these individuals are generally enthusiastic about the class.” Wilson taught students how to properly use tourniquets to stop bleeding, saying most people viewed the tourniquet in a bad light because of its association with amputation and the American Civil War. He said that was more related to improper hygiene than stopping the flow of blood. The tourniquet is intended as a last measure and is used to prevent victims from bleeding out before they are able to receive care from paramedics and other emergency personnel. The group also learned how to dress wounds using pieces of meat to simulate the damage bullets do to flesh. One scenario featured part of the class playing the role of victims while the others wore cloth over their eyes as a way of simulating a scenario where visibility was poor. After the final scenario where the group had four minutes to care for the wounded while balls whizzed by to simulate bullets, they sat down to eat pizza from Gatti’s. While the focus of the class was on surviving trauma related to an active shooter event, some students found the lessons practical for other stressful and life threatening situations. “Another thing I didn’t realize until we started talking about it doesn’t necessarily have to be shooting. You could have an accident with a chainsaw or the pick axe. Or just something out on the farm,” Gus Petraits, one of the students who took the class, said. His wife Cathy, a student at Gentry Martial Arts, joined Gus for the class. “I’m one of Brandon’s (Sieg, Gentry Martial Arts owner) students, so I’m inundated with all the martial arts here and it’s just part of getting educated,” Cathy said. The medical training was new to the Petraits. Cathy said she had done CPR training several years before and Gus said he learned CPR during high school. Cathy said she found the course to be very helpful. “Another thing too, even though I don’t take anything here at Gentry, because of her relationship to Gentry, there are a lot of familiar faces here. So it’s just kind of like a stupid family,” Gus said. Wilson said the most rewarding part of teaching the course was its potential to some day save a life. “The fact that I am putting in the hands of civilians a skillset that our military and first responders are given and that — God forbid — if there was an event, it may possible save someone’s life,” Wilson said. For more information on Gentry and possible upcoming active shooter classes, call 765-342-5600 or follow it on Facebook. Gentry Martial Arts is located at 1909 E. Morgan St., Martinsville.

“Go, Granny, go!” That’s what Margaret Irene Scott’s grandchildren would say to her as she drove them around town in her big, white Ford Maverick. Karen McKee-Arthur, one of Scott’s granddaughters, said Scott had a real lead foot. “She could get around 465 quicker than you think,” McKee-Arthur said. “It’s what happens when they put her in a V-8,” Bruce McKee, grandson of Scott, said. Scott’s grandchildren gathered Saturday at the Waters of Martinsville to celebrate her birthday. Scott turns 102 on Tuesday, and she’s lived through a remarkable number of historical events and occurrences. “She’s lived a good life, seen a lot of changes and that’s what she talks about — she says, ‘Oh, things have just changed so much,’” McKee-Arthur said. Scott has resided in the Alzheimer’s wing of the Waters of Martinsville for the past 10 years. McKee-Arthur said her grandmother is still able to carry on conversations and that she has her good days and her bad days. “Sometimes she knows who I am, sometimes I’m her niece, Thelma, but other than that we get along great. Once you get her engaged she does real well,” McKee-Arthur said. Just outside Scott’s room is a display her grandchildren put together in honor of her becoming a centenarian two years ago. It features photos of Scott, including one of Scott with a prized doll. The doll remains with Scott, keeping her company in her room. Another picture features Scott, who prefers to go by Irene, with her husband, Carney Scott. There’s also a novelty license plate emblazoned with “Go, Granny, go” that features Scott driving a Maverick. “Go, Granny, go” is the refrain in “The Little Old Lady From Pasadena,” a song written by the surf-rock duo Jan and Dean about a woman who, like Scott, drives with a tendency to step on the accelerator. It’s fitting for Scott, who spent much of the ’70s and ’80s working in the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. “We’d go over to Kmart and she’d drive and we had Tara, she was a baby, she was in her car seat and she’d say, ‘Step on it, Grandma!’” Jennifer Whetstone, one of Scott’s granddaughters, said. “She would take us around everywhere in that old white Maverick.” Whetsone said Scott would tell her that she’d never live to see her graduate from high school, get married or have kids. “My daughter is now 15, so she’s seen it all,” Whetstone said. During the party, Scott’s family reminisced about their favorite memories with her. “Was it you, Karen, when Grandma wrung the chicken’s neck?” McKee asked. “Oh, Lord have mercy, and it chased me!” McKee-Arthur said. “Grandma went out there and grabbed it, cut its head off and tossed it,” McKee said. “And about that time, she came walking around the corner and that chicken is flapping with no head.” “I’ve been traumatized my whole life,” McKee-Arthur said. “She’s hated chickens ever since then,” McKee said. “Every time we’d go to the zoo I’d say, ‘Oh look at the ducks!’ and then it’d bite me, so I hate every fowl,” McKee-Arthur said. “Unless you’re eating it,” McKee said. “Oh, I can eat it, that’s payback there,” McKee-Arthur said. “That’s another one of the favorite (memories),” McKee said. “Grandma always used to sit and laugh about that: Karen getting chased by a headless chicken.”

[Editor’s note: We received the text of this document at a dead drop, which Shocker reporter and Indiana Pacers scholar Andrew Crowley was directed to by an anonymous tip. We present it here unaltered.] We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.

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