Friends, students remember Grant Adamson as caring, unassuming

An image of Grant Adamson as a down-to-earth, kind and active Malibu resident has emerged in the aftermath of his death earlier this week, with lifelong friends and even young Pepperdine students reflecting on his positive contributions to the community.

Adamson died Tuesday in a hot air balloon crash in Switzerland. Adamson’s wife Terry and daughters Megan and Lauren were also injured in the balloon crash. 

Clark Cowan, a member of Pepperdine’s Crest Advisory Board, had known Adamson since he was 5 years old. The two were in cub scouts and attended Webster Elementary School together, Cowan said.

“We had a good time growing up together,” he said. “We used to go up to Serra Retreat where his family lived and go through all the old house basements and sneak around when we were young.”

The two reconnected years after their childhood mischief, ending up on the Crest Board together.

“He loved speaking to interested students and their families [about Pepperdine],” Cowan said. 

Adamson was a member of Malibu’s founding Adamson family, the same family that donated land for Pepperdine to build its Malibu campus.

“Grant had a pure heart,” said Don Thompson, a Pepperdine professor who had known Adamson for the last decade.

Thompson said he and Adamson were in a swim group together that met up to three times a week at Pepperdine. Adamson was a triathlete and one of the best swimmers in the group, according to Thompson.

Recent Pepperding graduate Ali Gardner got to know Adamson while serving on the Pepperdine Ambassador’s Council, which worked with Pepperdine’s Crest Advisory Board. She and her council peers always looked forward to annual outdoor outings hosted by Adamson, who sat on the Crest Advisory Board.

“He would invite us to his family’s house in Malibu (Serra Retreat) to go mini-horse riding,” Gardner told The Malibu Times. “And then we’d also go up every year to Ventura and he’d teach us trap shooting.” 

“Looking back, they are some of the most fun and memorable times I had on the council,” she said. “Grant loved Pepperdine students, and he was so kind to us.”

Grant Adamson invited a group of Pepperdine students to go trap shooting. Adamson is pictured center in the back row with yellow protective glasses.