Fred Grandy arrived in Ukraine’s capital city late last month with a group of volunteers to clear up rubble on the streets as Russia intensified its attacks.
Kennith Reed said his 62-year-old uncle was inspired to help while on a three-month trip through Europe. Reed said Grandy, who was born in Grants Pass, witnessed a memorial in Poland dedicated to those who lost their lives fighting in Ukraine. He was touched by it and wanted to help the civilians.
Grandy told his older sister Sietska Reed last week he felt like he was making a difference in Kyiv and hoped to stay there for six months.
“He was very much at peace,” said Sietska Reed, 75. “He felt like he was right where he was supposed to be.”
A few days later, Grandy, also known as “Freddy,” was one of at least 30 people killed as part of a large drone and missile strike on Kyiv. He was one of 23 people killed in the residential building that was struck by a Russian missile, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The strikes took place across the street from an aid station, according to Kennith Reed and Kyiv officials.
The U.S. State Department did not name Grandy but confirmed the death of a U.S. citizen in a briefing to reporters this week. Grandy’s family said that the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine informed them of his death.
Kennith Reed, 49, questioned why Russian forces would strike the building that posed little advantage in the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
“That wasn’t a military target,” he said. “There’s no advantage except for intimidation.”
According to Sietska Reed, Grandy was motivated to help after feeling like the U.S. under President Donald Trump was withdrawing support from Ukraine.
Fredric Glenn Grandy grew up with five sisters and one brother in Oregon and southwest Washington, Kennith Reed said. Grandy’s father served in World War II and met his mother after they corresponded during the war.
Grandy’s father spent many years working as a linesman building power lines, and his mother took care of the children. They moved around quite a bit, Kennith Reed said, but lived for many years in Hazel Dell north of Vancouver.
“They had a blueberry farm,” Kennith Reed said. “My grandma would chase off the customers. She was a bit crotchety, so they didn’t make much money on the blueberries, but we had a lot of them.”
The seven siblings worked to help their parents, and Grandy had a paper route, said Sietska Reed.
“He was there for Mom and Dad,” she said. “He was just one of these guys that showed up.”
As an adult, Grandy was a bit of a nomad, Kennith Reed said. He worked for a time as a bouncer in Seattle and also waited tables in New Orleans, according to his sister. But he also lived in parts of the Bay Area, Kentucky and, later, the East Coast.
His work may have influenced how much he moved. Grandy made money by selling yard art, rustic wood frames and signs out of metal for people’s homes and businesses. He would give people a free board and have them pay for metal cutouts of letters and numbers that he painted and screwed on for their own personal sign.
Kennith Reed said his uncle lived a frugal lifestyle by traveling to farmers markets and selling his wares.
“He loved to do it,” he said.
In November, he sold his house in Virginia and briefly lived with a family member in Brush Prairie, northeast of Vancouver. Soon after, he set out for Europe, Kennith Reed said, making trips to England, Germany and France before finding his way to Poland and then Ukraine.
“He just went over there and started making friends and learning the language and volunteering to help people out,” Kennith Reed said.
The last time Sietska Reed said she saw her younger brother was near the beginning of the year. He told her of his plans to travel through Europe.
“I wish I’d hugged him just a little longer than last time he was here,” she said.
Grandy’s family put together a GoFundMe page to help give him a proper burial. They’re still working to bring him home from Ukraine.
Following Grandy’s death, Ukrainians created a Facebook memorial for people to share a few words for his family. The organizer of the page, which has over 1,000 comments, called Grandy “a man with an open sincere smile.” Many others called him a true hero.
“After all they’ve been through, they’re kind enough to send us love,” Kennith Reed said through tears.
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