As a boy growing up in Carcross, the late Moe Grant fell in love with airplanes and flying.

He never lost that passion not even after a near-fatal crash in 1950 at the age of 20.

The 78-year-old lifelong Yukoner made his last flight just three years ago, at the age of 75.

Grant died Christmas Day.

He came to the territory with his parents from Mortlach, Sask., in 1929, when he was six months old.

Growing up in Carcross, where he eventually worked as a licensed mechanic for a single-bay garage in the community, Grant watched the planes come and go from what was then a relatively busy airstrip with an active local commercial flying company.

Grant piloted his first aircraft as a teenager in 1947. He didn't officially retire his flight plan number until just last year, when he and four others were inducted as pioneer aviators into the Yukon Transportation Museum's Hall of Fame.

'At the age of 10, he knew he wanted to fly,' Grant's eldest son, George, recalled in an interview Thursday. 'He did over 50 years of flying.'

But Grant is remembered as much, if not more, for his contributions to the community, whether as a musician, his involvement with the Yukon Order of Pioneers, or driving an old Model 'T' Ford in the annual Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous parade.

In 2002, Grant was honoured with a Commissioner's Award 'for his tireless dedication to bringing music into the lives of Yukon's senior citizens.'

Like his passion for airplanes, and he had many over the years, Grant also had a soft spot for fast cars.

A good part of his adult life was spent in the car business, from his days pulling wrenches in Carcross to his retirement as manager of Whitehorse Motors in the 1980s.

Grant became a partner in the Ford dealership when local businessman Rolf Hougen purchased the company from the Northern Commercial Co. in 1969.

He was already managing the Alaskan-owned business, which was located on Main Street. It was relocated by Hougen to its current Fourth Avenue spot the same year he bought it. The late Bob Parent was managing the parts department.

Hougen offered both men shares in the dealership as a means of keeping them on, and providing an incentive for continued prosperity. It worked.

'Moe was a very able manager,' Hougen said Thursday. 'And he knew everybody in the Yukon through his flying exploits.

'He knew the business, and he did a good job.'

Hougen visited Grant a few days ago.

'We got a few good smiles from him, reliving some of his escapades of the past.'

Grant is remembered for his sense of humour, and a teasing but friendly wit.

He is also remembered as a man with a mandolin who liked to share his music.

It was in 1975 when he began what remains a weekly tradition of local musicians visiting the Macaulay Lodge to provide entertainment for the residents every Wednesday night.

Grant's father, Hugh Grant, was living at Macaulay back then. Hugh, a former Anglican minister, liked to play the piano, and his son would accompany him on the mandolin.

Eventually, Grant convinced his fellow band members at the time Joe Loutchan, Roy Roberts, Gordie Healy to hold their weekly rehearsals at the Macaulay Lodge.

Though Grant was unable to perform regularly in the last couple of years, he made a cameo appearance on his 78th birthday last March. A group of musicians got together to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the weekly performances Grant initiated.

Guitarist Ken Mason, still a regular for the Macaulay gig, remembers his friend as a man who enjoyed life.

'He was a good guy and a really good friend to all kinds of Yukoners,' Mason said in an interview Thursday.

'He loved his flyin', he loved his fishin', his moose huntin' ... Moe loved life.'

Local musician Rusty Reid shared Grant's passion for both flying and music. She remembered how he'd buzz the Reids' Marsh Lake cabin before landing for coffee on floats in the summer, and skis in the winter.

'He would come down so low sometimes the leaves would be shaking on the trees,' she said. 'He was always full of fun, always joking ... always good to be around.'

Through the years, Grant had a handful of incidents with the various aircraft he owned, though it was the one early in his flying career that is remembered most.

In February 1950, the young pilot was on his way back to Carcross from Atlin where he'd flown to buy a bottle of scotch for his father's birthday. He crashed on a mountain after developing engine problems.

He spent five nights and four days in the bush with a busted ankle. The official search had been called off, though Grant's dad and family friends and pilot Herman Peterson refused to give up.

His dad and Peterson finally spotted the wreckage, and a trail leading down the mountain through chest-deep snow into the bush.

Grant was rescued, and flown to Edmonton, where he had to have both lower legs amputated.

But he never gave up flying, nor anything else.

He had his 21st birthday during his six months in the hospital, after which he returned to Whitehorse to continue his work in the car business.

He married wife Cora in 1953. The couple has two children, George, now 53, and David, now 51.

'He was just all about flying,' said George, who went on to get his commercial pilot's licence and is currently flying a Boeing 767 for Air Canada.

It is said while George inherited his dad's flying bug, David got the fast car bug, in particular the bug for Ford Mustangs.

A service for Grant will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Elliott Street, followed by a reception at the Golden Age Society on Fourth.

An avid supporter and member of the Yukon Order of Pioneers, Grant will be buried in the YOOP plot at the Grey Mountain Cemetery.