Georgia Victoria Granger

Georgia Granger, wife of Benjamin P. Granger and founder of HUMAN-ANIMAL BOND IN COLORADO (HABIC), has died at age 92 at her home in Fort Collins. In 1993, she founded HABIC, a sprawling organization that trained human-canine teams to work with therapists in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, correctional institutions and many other settings. At its peak, HABIC boasted more than 200 volunteer teams that served thousands of people each week throughout Northern Colorado. The organization continues to operate more than 30 years after its founding, under the auspices of Colorado State University. Prior to HABIC, Georgia founded HUMAN-ANIMAL BOND IN TENNESSEE and ran it for 17 years. It, too, is still in operation at the University of Tennessee. In 2017, she founded Caring Canines and ran it until her retirement in 2021. It continues to grow and thrive. She was also an outstanding tennis player, who participated in her final USTA national championship at the age of 81. Georgia was born Georgia Brown in 1933 in Long Beach, California, the youngest daughter of George VH Brown, a vice president of the Buffums department store chain, and Harriet (Alderson) Brown, who was a homemaker. She met Ben Granger at Whittier College and they were married in 1953. Their marriage lasted more than 60 years, in part due to their extremely close partnership in both work and love. In Colorado and in Tennessee, Ben marshalled the resources of the School of Social Work, of which he was Dean, to expand the reach and effectiveness of HABIC and HABIT. Ben passed away in 2015. Of all the work she did with her own dogs (12 Goldens preceded by two Spaniels) in various settings, the one closest to her heart was most likely the work she did with adolescent men confined to Platte Valley Youth Services Center. She talked movingly of how working with her dogs and the counselors at Platte Valley could change troubled boys from hostile and withdrawn hard cases to outgoing and optimistic people who left prison with the tools and emotional resources to succeed in society. “Early on, Georgia saw healing in the quiet presence of a dog beside her ailing mother—and chose to share that gift with the world,” said Katy Tychsen, who worked with Georgia at both HABIC and Caring Canines and was a close friend through her final days. “Since the beginning of her work with animal-assisted therapy, her leadership and sincere caring for others allowed her to be the model for so many of us. She gave dogs purpose, volunteers meaning, and COUNTLESS people comfort. Her legacy lives in every human-animal bond that brings hope where it’s needed most.” Georgia and Ben moved from city to city 14 times during their marriage and successfully raised three children: David, the former editor in chief of Esquire Magazine and currently a literary agent in New York; Becky, a volunteer and child advocate with various Christian ministries who lives in Colorado Springs; and Mark, an engineer and missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators, who lives in Knoxville, TN. Georgia especially enjoyed big family reunions, during which she was a standout competitor in the Granger Family Olympics, generally dominating in “bean-bag toss” (aka Cornhole) and ping pong. Georgia had eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, with a tenth due in February of this year. A memorial will be held at Timberline Church, 2908 S. Timberline, Fort Collins on February 14 at 10 a.m. For more details go to www.bohlenderfuneralchapel.com/upcoming-services. Donations in Georgia’s memory can be made to Caring Canines www.caringcaninescolorado.org/donate2/.

Tributes

Georgia Victoria Granger

April 30, 1933 - January 29, 2026