Kansas City Legend Tom Grant Dies at 74

Posted July 7, 2025

Updated July 8, 2025 at 11:14 a.m. 

William Thomas (Tom) Grant II, the former president of Overland Park-based SelectQuote, passed away on July 1, due to cancer. He was 74.

Grant was best known for his influence in the Kansas City insurance brokerage sector. He began his career in the Kansas City metro at Business Men’s Assurance Co. of America (BMA), becoming CEO of the company by 1983.

From there, Grant would go on to hold several leadership positions at Kansas City area companies, including Seafield Capital Corporation. While at Seafield, Grant served as CEO of the company from 1990 to 1995. He then served as CEO of LabOne, a laboratory testing company which was majority owned by Seafield, from 1995 to 2005.

By the end of 2005, Grant moved on to serve as the senior vice president of Quest Diagnostics, following its acquisition of LabOne. Grant stayed with Quest for over a year before leaving the company. In 2008, Grant took on a new venture as a board member of SelectQuote; by 2011, he became president of the company. He stepped down from the position in 2018.

In addition to having decades of experience in executive leadership, Grant had also been a member of the board for Commerce Bank since 1980.

Grant helped craft SelectQuote’s strategy over fifteen years, according to a release from the company following news of his passing.

“Tom’s mark on SelectQuote was profound and cannot be overstated,” SelectQuote CEO, Tim Danker, said in the release. “The success of our company, and the millions of consumers we’ve helped, are directly attributable to the vision and leadership of Tom Grant. But, for as great of a businessperson as Tom was, he was an even better husband, father, grandfather, mentor, and friend to so many. Tom will be deeply missed.”

Grant had two sons, Bill Grant and Bob Grant, who followed their father into SelectOne and now serve as the company’s chief operating officer and president, respectively.