(from left) Glenn Granger who accepted on his parent's behalf, John Kepros, M.D., Chief of the Medical Staff, Barbara Given, Ph.D Chair, Sparrow Health System Board of Directors, Jean Paull, President, Women's Board of Managers, and Dennis Swan, President and CEO, Sparrow Health System.
Published: March 15, 2016
Husband and wife Al and Jan Granger were recognized today with Sparrow’s highest honor, the 2016 Sparrow Founders’ Award.
The Grangers are pillars of the mid-Michigan region. In 1959, their family founded Granger Construction, which later expanded into Granger Waste Management Company. Al served on the Sparrow Foundation Board of Directors from 2002 to 2004. The couple’s son, Glenn, followed in his father’s footsteps and has earned Emeritus status with the Sparrow Foundation Board.
In 1978, Al and Jan, along with Al’s brothers and their wives, started the Granger Foundation, dedicated to enhancing quality of life within the region. Through generous gifts from the Granger Foundation, the family is honored to have sponsored Sparrow’s Granger Pediatric Emergency Department, dedicated to serving the unique needs of pediatric Patients.
Sparrow is honored to present the Grangers with the 21st Founders’ Award for their volunteerism, philanthropy and stewardship in our region.
Today’s Founders’ Day celebration marks Sparrow’s 120th year of service to the mid-Michigan region. Sparrow was founded in 1896 by a group of 114 female volunteers as the Lansing Women’s Hospital. In 1912, a new hospital was built at the current site at 1215 E. Michigan Avenue, taking the name of Lansing businessman and benefactor Edward W. Sparrow.
Past recipients of the award include:
- Lansing businessman Dick Iding
- Patrick P. Gribben, Jr.*, former CEO of Delta Dental and member of the Sparrow Hospital/Health System and Physicians Health Plan Boards
- Longtime Volunteer Mary Jane (McClintock) Wilson
- Former Sparrow Senior Vice President of Operations Ira Ginsburg
- Former Sparrow Board Chairperson Lance Lynch
- Community leader Virginia Hilbert*
- Sparrow Volunteer and longtime board member Evelyn Scheffel*
- Former Sparrow President and CEO F. Karl Neumann
- Mason businessman Frank Guerriero*
- Community leader Duane Vernon
- Former Sparrow Vice President and Director of Nursing Sue Tadgerson*
- Former Sparrow Hospital/Health System Board Chairs Marylee Davis, Ph.D., and Mary Jessup
- Former Michigan State University Athletic Director Ron Mason
- WILX TV-10 sports anchor Tim Staudt
- Kevin A. Kelly*, former Executive Director of the Michigan Medical Society
- Drs. William Harrison*, Mahlon Sharp* and Joseph Sheets*
*denotes deceased
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