Wilbur Eugene Grunwald

Wilbur Eugene “Bill” Grunwald was born October 11, 1925 in Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of a carpenter and homemaker. It was around the age of 11 when he first remembered meeting a girl who lived across the street, Jean Barker. It would be the start of a relationship that would last over 81 years.

When he was 17, he quit high school to join the Marines. He had always wanted to be a photographer, but after acing the math part of the test he was sent to radar school in Ward Island, Texas. While he was on guard duty one day, his mother walked across the stage of Royal Oak High School to accept his graduation diploma. During WWII, he served in the South China Sea of the Pacific Theatre and fought in the battle of Okinawa. When the war ended he was part of the occupation force in Japan, stationed across the bay from Nagasaki.

After he was discharged in April of 1946, he went to college on the GI Bill and graduated from Wayne University in Detroit, Michigan with a degree in Electrical Engineering. While still in school, he married Jean and they settled in Birmingham, MI. Soon thereafter, they moved to Long Island, NY where he worked on missile guidance systems for Sperry Gyroscope. Less than two years later they moved back to Michigan. He worked at Cadillac Gage which led him to work at Chrysler Missile Division, taking over the guidance lab for the Redstone and Jupiter rockets. During this period they adopted two children, Nancy and Mark.

In October of 1960 they moved south to Huntsville and joined a new church, Trinity United Methodist, and have been members ever since. At that time the German scientists had been moved to form NASA and he took a job with the Guidance and Control Lab of ABMA on Redstone Arsenal. In 1966, he volunteered to take an appointment with NATO and the SHAPE Technical Center in The Hague, Netherlands. On loan from the Department of the Army, his family lived three years in Europe and visited many countries and beautiful cities.

Back in Huntsville he was assigned as the chief engineer of the Land Combat Support System (LCSS) which tested missile guidance components for land combat missiles. After that assignment he became the chief of Engineering Services Division in the missile labs and worked in that capacity until his retirement in 1990.

Upon retirement he became a yard man and the chief dog walker. He and Jean enjoyed the company of pets all of their lives with the exception of the three year period they lived in the Netherlands. In the 27 years after retirement, He and Jean spent time enjoying and supporting their children and grandchildren. They took time to travel and see the places that they had wanted to see all of their lives. In the last year, he lost his beloved Jean (they were married for 69 years) but now is reunited with her and all of his family and friends who have passed on before him. Most important to him was his belief and faith in his Lord Jesus Christ and he followed him his entire life.

Visitation will be at Trinity United Methodist Church – 607 Airport Road SW, Huntsville, AL 35802 on Wednesday, December 19, 2018 from 5:00pm, with the Memorial Service at 6:00pm, Associate Pastor Mac Buttram officiating.