CustomValidator in Gridview (itemtemplate): Server Side Validation not working

I have a Custom Validator in a Gridview (Item Row), with server side validation, however I am not able to fire the Server side events.  Please reference http://forums.asp.net/t/1205910.aspx, where followed all of the steps to confirm the Custom Validator is setup.  The control does not use validation groups and the calling button causes other validation events (outside the gridview) to fire.  I have set ValidateEmptyText="true" and OnServerValidate="ServerValidateFunction".  On debug, the Server Validate function does not make it to the first line.  I have not been able to find anything when googling this issue. 

So the question: Is it possible to bind a Custom Validator in a Gridview Item row to a client side validation function?  I should add this is inside an update pannel, however other events (outside the datagrid, but inside the update panel) wo ...