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Coach Granby was born in North Carolina and grew up in Harlem, the Bronx and Queens. He was one of three children. His older brother Samuel, is a Funeral Director in the Bronx; his younger sister Catherine, is a retired teacher. 

He has one daughter, Robyn, who is currently an English as a Second Language Teacher.  Coach Granby served in the US Army in the Medical Corps at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He served his country well and received an honorable discharge. 

He was a graduate of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and earned his MA from Hunter College here in NYC. While attending Bradley University, he played on the basketball team that was ranked one, two or three from 1958 to 1961.  Accordingly, he was a team member when Bradley won the National Invitational Tournament in 1960. Visitors to Bradley's Hall of Fame can view his NIT championship team picture where it still hangs today. 

Coach "Chuck" Granby was a teacher and coach in the New York City Public School System for 45 years at Andrew Jackson, which is now called Campus Magnet High School. He retired from teaching in 1996 but continued to coach the Boys' Varsity Basketball Team until the 2014 season. On December 20th 2011, Coach Granby achieved a milestone in his coaching career by obtaining  his 700th win in the PSAL.  He was the first coach that reached this milestone in the history of the PSAL. His coaching tenure enabled him to be one of the "winningest"  coaches in the history of New York City basketball. His overall record was 722-213. 

In 2012, he was inducted into the NYC Basketball hall of Fame. In addition, his teammate at Bradley University and daughters godfather Chet Walker was inducted into The Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 7th 2012. One of his former players Kyle O’Quinn, currently plays for the New York Knicks.

During his tenure at Andrew Jackson/Campus Magnet High School, Coach Granby's teams made the P.S.A.L playoffs for 41 years. They've were Divisional Champs 24years, Quarter-finalists 19 years, Queens Champs 7 years [the most recent in the 05-06 season], Semi-finalists 6 years, PSAL finalist for 4 years and a PSAL NYC Championship Title in 1985. His teams made the state tournament twice in 1984 -85.

He Co-Coached with Paul Brown and won eight straight gold medals at the Empire State Open Men's Basketball Tournament.  Coach Granby has the second most wins of any coach in PSAL history.  He  was considered the Dean of NYC Coaches. 

He was also named Newsday's Coach of the Year six times as well as New York Daily News Coach of the year 5 times. Additionally, he was named Coach of the Year by the NYSBA during the 1984-85 season. In 1993, he received the NYSBCA recognition award and he was inducted into the Brooklyn Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996. He received the Pro- Am Achievement Award in 1997. Coach Granby was also inducted into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005. He has been profiled in full page articles in the New York Times. 

In 1985, 92 and 94-95 Coach Granby coached Wheelchair Tournaments. He has been affiliated with the Big Apple Games for several years and has worked with Elmcor and Pro- Am on several projects. 

To his players, Coach Granby was not just a coach; he was more like a father or big brother. One of his former players, Paul Ruddock, has this to say about Coach Granby: "Coach was there for me through a personal tragedy. My father wasn't around much, but coach was. You know when you play for Coach Granby, he'll be there for you your whole life." By stressing the importance of higher education, Coach Granby was influential in the lives of many of his players, helping them to attain full scholarships to top colleges and universities. He tried to motivate his students to reach their fullest potential by continuously being there for them. Coach Granby was extremely proud of the high college placement 
rate among Andrew Jackson's basketball players and he has continued to keep this tradition going at the Campus Magnet School. 

His Thanksgiving Basketball Classic was an annually event at York College.  The event invited and gave exposure to many local High Schools through-out New York.  It was truly a community affair with local players and families looking forward to an afternoon of highly competitive basketball the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was a chance for the young men to show off their basketball skills and for the community to come together for a fun day.   With the help and support of Rev. Simmons and St. Albans Congregational Church and State Assemblywoman Barbara Clark, he was able to keep the tournament going for so many years.   One thing he particularly enjoyed was taking his team out of state during the Christmas Holiday. Often, Rev. Simmons went along for the ride and provided spiritual guidance for the young men on the team. 

Coach supported his players and students in many ways. He would help them manage their classes and guide them through family and/or male-female relationships.  Sometimes he encouraged them to be responsible young men.  Coach Granby was quite caring and sometimes made sure some of his plyers had a good meal. For many of the kids he coached, he is the only father figure they had. 

The Christian Church was an important part of Coach Granby's life-- something that began when he was a young boy living in North Carolina. Since 1976, he attended St. Albans Congregational Church. In his earlier years, he was a member of the Men's Fellowship and the Deacon Board. He continued to support the Church program and its many projects until his passing on March 1st 2016.