Arlington Heights father of 2 dies after 12-year fight with cancer

An Arlington Heights father of two, who brought joy and laughter to all those he encountered, has succumbed to the cancer he had fought for nearly 12 years.

David Grinslade died April 19 from complications related to bone and lung cancer, which he had developed after his initial diagnosis in 2004 of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was 34.

Grinslade grew up in Arlington Heights, attending South Middle School and Rolling Meadows High School, where he played football and danced every year in the Orchesis Club's annual show.

"He was a star on the football team and yet he loved to dance," says his high school classmate, Lauren Lee, of Memphis. "He made it cool for football players to dance."

At the time of his diagnosis, Grinslade had been named one of 20 students on USA Today's All-USA Community College Academic Team. He was commended for his 4.0 grade-point average as well as his activism at Malcolm X City College in raising student awareness about prejudice, and his leadership in organizing a student march against police brutality.

"President George H.W. Bush attended the awards ceremony and handed David his award," says his mother, Ridgely J. Jackson. "David's picture remains in the lobby of Malcolm X."

During the ensuing years, Grinslade would study for a summer in Austria, backpack through Europe, run with the bulls in Spain before ultimately earning his college degree from Loyola University, marrying and have two children.

"Everyone's goal was to have him survive long enough for Angie to be born," his mother says, "and he survived eight years longer."

Grinslade was a third generation Arlington Heights resident, whose mother and grandmother both made their careers in teaching.

His grandmother, Ridgely P. Jackson was a longtime teacher at the former Olive Elementary School in Arlington Heights, where she was known locally and statewide for her use of creative dramatics in the classroom. Grinslade's mother, Ridgely J. Jackson, teaches legal writing at Loyola Law School in Chicago.

While Grinslade worked as an agent for Farmers Insurance in Schaumburg, he taught important life lessons to everyone around him, acquaintances say. His family defined him, including his wife Stephanie, and children Angelene and Ryan, not his illness.

"Many did not know David battled cancer for years, before he finally underwent a bone-marrow transplant," his mother added. "He rarely spoke of it, and endured in silence years of chronic pain without complaint."

Besides his mother, Grinslade is survived by his wife, musician Stefanie Berecz Grinslade, and children, Angelene, 8, and Ryan, 2, as well as his sisters Jenny, Gianna, Doretha and Myra.

A memorial service will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 6, at Cooney Funeral Home, 3918 W. Irving Park Road in Chicago.