Elizabeth DuBard Grantland

Elizabeth DuBard “Liddy” Grantland passed away peacefully on May 30, 2026, of metastatic breast cancer. Like all her life challenges, Liddy faced cancer with extraordinary courage, determination, and humor.

Liddy was born to Rebecca DuBard Grantland and John Martin Grantland on February 20, 1998, the fifth anniversary of their marriage. She graduated with honors from Hammond School in 2016, where she was a member of the Cum Laude Society and recipient of the John Adger Manning Award given to the most outstanding member of the senior class.

Liddy received her Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Duke University in 2020 with majors in English and African American Studies and a minor in Theater. She was an active member of the Duke Wesley Fellowship, sang with the United in Praise Gospel Choir, wrote for the Duke Chronicle, and was the 2020 Student Preacher at Duke University Chapel. Liddy also served on the Duke Chapel Board from 2018 until her death.

After a time in college cut short by COVID, Liddy worked for L’Arche USA in Washington, D.C. where she lived in community with, and touched the lives of, many adults with disabilities and special needs. With a passion for working with the disabled, Liddy returned to Columbia in 2024 and was pursuing her Master of Social Work at the University of South Carolina at the time of her death.

An accomplished writer, Liddy’s collection of essays Flesh and Bones: Learning to Love This Body was published by the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South in 2021. Recently, she wrote about reproductive and body justice on her Substack page, Our Bodies: Ourselves.

Liddy was preceded in death by her paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Wallace Martin Grantland (Anderson, SC).

Liddy is survived by her parents; her beloved siblings, Grace Margaret Grantland (Charleston, SC) and William Wallace Grantland (Philadelphia, PA); her beloved partner of ten years, Sumant Rao (New York, NY); her maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Lewis DuBard, Sr. (Blythewood, SC); eleven aunts and uncles, and numerous cousins from Texas, Virginia, Florida, New York, and South Carolina — all of whom loved and adored her. She is survived also by her beloved tabby cat, Joni Mitchell.

Visitation will be at Shives Funeral Home, 7600 Trenholm Road, on Saturday, June 6, from 5 to 7 PM. A memorial service to celebrate Liddy’s life will be held at Shandon United Methodist Church on Sunday, June 7, at 3 PM.

Memorials may be made to causes for which Liddy cared deeply: L’Arche USA (larcheusa.org/donate), the Duke Wesley Fellowship (dukewesley.org/liddy), and the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South (rcwms.org/donate).

The family wishes to give special thanks to Dr. James Wells for his compassionate and devoted care; the beloved nurses and staff on the 9th Floor North at Lexington Medical Center, and to our dear R and L (nos ayudaban más que lo que saben).

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:40