Daniel L. Grice Sr., who died Feb. 23 at age 71, coached scores of Montbello student-athletes and taught them an ongoing lesson in tolerance.
As an African-American married to a white woman, he weathered aggravation from various people, including police officers, who once stopped the Grices’ car after one look at the couple in the front seat.
“He told me, ‘Long as nobody puts their hands on you, everything’s OK,”‘ recounted his son, Daniel Grice II.
“He told me, ‘Be the bigger man, and walk away.”‘
Grice was the seventh child born to his mother, who died as she gave birth to him. His father split up the siblings and sent them to live with friends and relatives.
Grice grew up under the supervision of Colorado Springs relatives. The aunt who helped raise him died Feb. 27, only days after he died.
After serving in the Korean War, Grice became a truck driver and fell in love with a Dutch woman.
They dated and married in the 1960s, a time when interracial couples, then a relatively rare public sight, were subjected to relentless harassment.
“It was hard for my dad,” his son said.
“I can’t believe he put up with all the crap, being with a white lady. Quite a few times, the cops gave us a hard time, along with other people in general. I remember one incident when I was about 6. A Denver cop pulled us over and dragged my dad out of the car, telling him that my mom shouldn’t be with him and they could take him to jail if they wanted to.”
That sort of racism became a fact of life for the Grices. Schoolmates taunted Grice’s son with slurs. When he went to his father, the senior Grice comforted him and urged him to rise above his persecutors.
To that end, Grice put his son in sports – Little League Baseball, recreation league football and basketball, motocross and BMX bike racing, speedskating, golfing and fishing.
During his boyhood, Grice’s son won more than 160 trophies that helped eviscerate the racist gibes.
The senior Grice continued to coach boys sports well after his son became an adult. Many of the young athletes he trained went on to become sports stars at Montbello High School.
Grice relaxed by reading Westerns. A fast reader, he typically finished a book the day he started it. He kept his current book nearby in his truck cab and relaxed after dinner by propping up his feet and engrossing himself in the lives of cowboys.
Survivors include his wife, Wuillemien “Willy” Grice of Denver; son, Daniel L. Grice II of Denver; sisters Mary Jane Hawkins of Denver, Doris Brown of El Paso and Betty Jean Grice of Hutchinson, Kan.; and four grandchildren.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-820-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
