Vanessa Grant Oltmann, 76, of Nanaimo, BC, passed away on April 26, 2023, after suffering a stroke. She passed peacefully, surrounded by her family in Nanaimo General Hospital.
Vanessa was born on December 7, 1946 to William Douglas Grant and Patricia Grant in Guelph, Ontario. As a child she moved to BC, graduating High School in Prince George. It was there that she met and married Dan McMurray, before moving to a lighthouse on the BC coast, where her sons Cameron and Grant were born.
In 1975, Vanessa and her two boys moved to Prince Rupert, where she met the love of her life, Brian Oltmann, whom she married in 1976, inheriting three more children to wrap her arms around.
Vanessa's passion for writing started at an early age. Her first attempt at becoming a novelist came at age 12. She continued writing in her spare time until she finally published her first romance novel at the age of 38, and began to pursue her passion full-time.
She went on to write 32 more romance novels as Vanessa Grant, eventually selling over 10 million books in 15 languages.
Her time as an author also brought her lifelong friends, from her Red Door group of writers in BC, to those met around the world while speaking at writers' conferences.
In 1987, Vanessa began a two-year adventure with her family, sailing the Pacific coast from BC to Mexico. She and Brian built a log house on Gabriola Island, before settling down for the rest of her life in Nanaimo. From there, she earned an MBA at Laurentian University before becoming a professor of accounting and forensics at Vancouver Island University, a position she held until her retirement.
Vanessa was dearly loved as a caring, generous, and gentle soul. She was an adventurous, ambitious, academic, technical force. She was a mentor to many. She was an author, an educator, and a storyteller.
