October 2023 - 34

Grant Petersen | 1961-2023
By friends and family
Grant Petersen was born in New Brunswick NJ in 1961.
He was born with cystic fibrosis (CF), a rare and often
early-age fatal degenerative lung disease (five-year life
expectancies were the norm). In 1976, Grant's family
moved to Detroit MI. He struggled with his lung function
every day. His CF, however, did not stop him continuing to
play many sports including one of his favorites, bowling,
where he once qualified for the U.S. Open.
After high school, his doctors told him he only had a few
years to live because his lung function was continuing to
decline. They recommended not attending college. Nonetheless,
he enrolled in Georgia Tech University where he
bowled collegiately and earned a degree in accounting.
By the early 2000s, Grant's lung function decreased to
under 20% and he was added to a transplant list. In 2005, a
match was found and Grant underwent a double lung transplant.
After nearly a year-long recovery, he was able to achieve
almost 100% lung function, a miracle of modern medicine.
While Grant was recovering from his transplant, he and
his high school friend, Greg Sellgren, were introduced to
duplicate bridge by Grant's brother, Stuart. Grant quickly
fell in love with the game.
Grant and Greg developed an excellent bridge partnership.
They won their first tournament open pairs event
at a local sectional when they each had less than 5 masterpoints!
His goal was to become a Life Master within
a year, and he did. After a couple of years, he decided he
would teach and play bridge professionally.
In 2009, Grant and Greg formed Bridge Today & Tomorrow.
They focused their efforts on youth bridge with
the goal of teaching middle and high school students the
game. They taught after-school bridge at several schools
in the Detroit area, introducing dozens of students to the
game. Scholarships were established and a number of
students earned funds for their higher education.
In May 2011, Grant and friend Mike McDonald purDeliesseline
Adams | 1929-2023
Grand Life Master Deliesseline " Dee " Adams, of Memphis
TN, passed away Aug. 7 after a brief illness. She was
born May 14, 1929, in Vicksburg MS. She was preceded
in death by her parents, Theo and Emily Birchett and by
her husband of 66 years, Harrison Adams. She attended
Southwestern at Memphis. She was a retired licensed realtor
and, for a time, had her own company, Abode Realtors.
Dee's real passion other than her family, however, was
contract bridge. As one of the top players in the region, she
won dozens of trophies and was most proud of the fact that
she earned the honor of being a Grand LM: She was captain
of the winning squad in the Truscott/USPC Senior Swiss
Teams in 2013. She was a longtime member of the M.A.
34 | Bridge Bulletin | October 2023
chased The Bridge Connection in
Southfield MI. The Bridge Connection
is Michigan's largest and longest-running
full-time club.
Grant continued to teach, expanding
his lessons to adults. He played professionally
with many eager players wanting
to learn more. He established as the
club's mission to bring new people to
the game and help develop existing players through lessons
and free lectures. Over the past decade, the teachers
at The Bridge Connection have given several thousand
lessons to players at all levels. With its move to its current
location in 2014, The Bridge Connection became a stateof-the-art
club, with 5500 square feet of playing space and
capacity for up to 60 tables. All of the Michigan Bridge Association's
and Southern Michigan Bridge Association's
sectional and regional tournaments are held at the club.
Grant served on the Michigan Bridge Association's
(Unit 137) board for the past 13 years. Although the pandemic
kept Grant from playing live bridge, he continued to
teach and play virtually.
In March 2023, Grant suffered a stroke and his previously
diagnosed lymphoma had returned. He decided to
undergo another treatment of chemotherapy combined
with a bone marrow transplant. Grant passed away during
treatment due to complications from kidney failure.
A charity in Grant's name has been set up with the
Michigan Children with Special Needs Foundation. This
charity helped Grant throughout his life with the cost of
medical care and medicine.
Grant will be remembered for many things including
his humor both at the bridge table and while teaching. He
was passionate about making players feel comfortable,
welcomed and not intimidated by the game. He was a
Sapphire Life Master and a strong advocate for bridge in
Southeast Michigan. He is survived by his mother, Jane,
and older brother, Stuart.
Lightman Bridge Club in Memphis and
was still playing actively until shortly
before her death.
Dee is survived by three children,
daughter Emily Durham of Little Rock
and sons, Bill Adams (Eileen) and Mark
Adams, both of Memphis. She leaves
three grandchildren, Eric Durham of
Little Rock, Will Adams (Taylor) and
Caitlin Adams both of Memphis, a step-great-granddaughter,
Elliot, and a cousin, Deliesseline Wright of Colorado.
The family would like to thank with extreme gratitude
her caretaker, Rita Lawrence, and her dear friends Al
and Joyce Stone for all of their help. She will be missed.
October 2023

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