Grant D. Morrill Jr., aka “Spoony the Clown,” 79, of Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, died Oct. 9, 2016 at the Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania.

Born February 22, 1937, in Pemaquid, Maine, he was a son of the late Grant and Doris (Hanna) Morrill. He attended Wiscasset High School, playing basketball, baseball, cross country and track and served as president of the student council and junior class.

In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by a daughter, Donna Palma.

Grant proudly served his country in the U.S. Air Force from 1955 to 1959 and the U.S. Navy from 1959 to 1964.

Grant was a man of many talents, one of the first being sports in which he made many friends. He was an avid golfer with 18 documented “holes in one.” He served as a local, state, national and world champion of racquetball and was inducted into the PA Chapter of Sports Hall of Fame. While in the Navy and Air force, he traveled the world playing softball and in 1962 came in second in the world tournament. His talents did not end with sports. He spent many years as “Spoony the Clown” entertaining the young and old at heart. Voted second best clown in North America, he enjoyed his roles as the Zembo Shrine Clown named “Boss" and rodeo clowns.

He was an accomplished musician, mastering several instruments, a magician and master balloon artist and made the best peach pancakes. In addition to Grant’s numerous talents, he enjoyed participating in the Zembo band, oil painting, kayaking and fishing with his wife, Joan, family and friends, yard sales, spending numerous hours photographing fallen down barns throughout Pennsylvania and the country and cheering on his favorite sport teams, the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Steelers.

He sat on several boards including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and received many awards. Grant’s diverse work career included positions as an operating engineer with the Local 542, racquetball instructor at the Central Penn Fitness Center, sheriff deputy with the Dauphin County Sheriff’s Department, where he retired in 1999 and security guard at the Hershey Park Camping Resort. He was a member of the Caring Community Church of God in Hummelstown. He also became an ordained minister this past spring.

He leaves behind his beloved wife Joan; sons, Christopher and wife Patricia of North Carolina, Jeffrey of Penbrook, Pennsylvania and Keven of Carlisle, Pennsylvania; daughters, Christine and husband Dave Salerno and Doris Ann (DeeAnn) of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; stepson, Daniel Moore of Highspire, Pennsylvania; and stepdaughter, Heather Moore of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Grant is also survived by his siblings, Rocky (Darrell) and wife Janet, Stanley, Diane Rickard, Scott and Mona Cross; nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, several nieces and nephews, and his beloved dog, Sammi.

A viewing will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14. A second viewing will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 15, with the service beginning at noon with pastors Glenn Peck and Pat Kelly officiating. A Masonic Service will begin at 12:30 p.m. The viewings and services will be held at the Hetrick-Bitner Funeral Home, Inc., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Interment for immediate family will be held on Monday, Oct. 17 at 10 a.m. at the Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. The Hetrick-Bitner Funeral Home, Inc. has been entrusted with the arrangements. Relatives and friends are invited to share memories and condolences with the family at www.HetrickBitnerFuneralHome.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 2405 Park Drive, Suite 100, Harrisburg, PA 17110 or at www.lls.org/central-pennsylvania.