Edward Osbourne Grimm

Ed. Ed Grimm. Family man, Airman, Soldier, Business Professor, Business Investor.

If ever there really was a Man for All Seasons, it was Ed.

And yet, as I recall, there were some who crossed his path and saw him as a figure in one dimension, only.

He was, in fact, not constrained by any dimension at all, except that of Loyalty.

His commitment was to showing it, to living it.

Whether the context was his Family, the family he and Mary created and nurtured or the family he re-discovered in the State of Maine, the University, for which he did so much, or the Canadian Armed Forces, his long career with the Air Force and later his Honourary service with the Army Reserve.

And all of these are well represented in the church today.

But when I think of Ed, I often think of someone not in the church today.

We know that Ed was always a Learner, and we saw him grow with Technology.

Well, one of our granddaughters has the luxuriant dark hair and complexion inherited from her mother’s Mayan Indian-ness. When she moved to Sydney at age six and went to school, a classmate said “ I think you must be Chinese”. My granddaughter replied “I am not Chinese, I am Latina, and if you don’t know what that is, Google it”.

Ed needed no invitation to Google something, or anything! He was Mr. Internet, and I have to tell you that there is someone in the church today who should go to Confession, for having shown Ed how to operate on Twittter!

Let me simply say that Ed was certainly a believer in the concept of Life-Long Learning.

And how could he not be, when you think that virtually all of his formal education and training was “on the job”, and took place with the support of the Canadian Armed Forces, including his degree studies at two fine Canadian universities.

But I don’t think he signed up for the courses in tact and diplomacy.

Mind you, if that was a shortcoming, it was one he reserved for his participation in the university’s Academic Council.

The enduring expression, The Triumph of Hope over Experience, could have been coined to cover those times some of us went int0 the Council meeting room wondering if this would be the meeting at which Ed would bide his time, bite his tongue, butter up his doubters and critics.

But Ed was, above all, goal oriented, plain spoken, and totally lacking in artifice.

He showed this as Dean of Business, and later as my Special Assistant, and without these strengths, carried so strongly in Ed’s performance and presence, I really doubt that the university would have succeeded in internationalizing so well and so early.

A word about Ed and Internationalization is clearly warranted.

Many years ago, when one of our boys was four or five, he came home one day and referred to a playmate as being “like a Bull in a Chinese Restaurant.”

The first time Ed was to accompany me to China, I wondered if I was going to learn what a Bull in a Chinese Restaurant was all about.

I didn’t, but I did see, and really appreciated, Ed’s great ability to reach people, to accept them, and set them at their ease. From students to senior officials, Ed Grimm won over everyone.

Yes, he was goal oriented, but he was also free of airs and graces, which the Chinese liked, and he was determined, which they recognized, whether they liked it or not.

Note the time we took the CBU Men’s Basketball Team to China. Ed was not in charge of getting the team there, and a few players did not make their flight. For the first game, we were two men short. Ed had his older grandsons with him, and both took to the court. I was convinced that had we been still short of a player, Ed would have pulled a pair of basketball boots out of his bag, and got right in there.

I have to say that Ed was so very proud of the children he and Mary raised, and of their children too.

He wanted great things for them, but also from them. He knew you are capable of it.

And though I direct this observation to the family Grimm, it also applies to all of you he knew, from the university, the community, or the armed forces of the country he loved.

In the morning, and at the going down of the sun, we will remember him.

Please, remember him, and miss him, but keep his example with you. Then you will never be totally alone.

Biography Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Edward O. Grimm, CIM, PMGR, PCSC, BComm, MBA, CMA, CD

Lieutenant Colonel Grimm enrolled in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1957 as a Private. Over the next twenty-one years he served seven years in the ranks, seven years as a Junior Officer, and seven years as a Senior Officer. He is one of a handful of Senior Officers to hold positions in supply, transportation, finance, and commanding officer of a service battalion.

Since his retirement from the regular forces, he served thirteen years in the Canadian Forces Militia.

For over twenty-five years, he was employed by Cape Breton University.

Professional Experience:

1 July 2006 – Retirement Director, International Centre for Emergency Management Studies

Cape Breton University

1 July 2002 – June 2006 Dean, School of Business

Cape Breton University

As Dean of Business, he was responsible for the leadership of the school and promoting the interests of both, within Cape Breton University and the broader business community. This included the development of national and international articulation agreements and other partnerships. During his tenure, he negotiated fifteen partnership agreements which resulted in the School starting a campus in Vancouver, BC; building the Canadian International College in Cairo, Egypt; offering the MBA (CED) in Edmonton, Alberta; offering the MBA (CED) at Jilin University, Peoples Republic of China; offering the MBA (CED) in Kingston, Ontario for the Canadian Forces and increasing enrollment in Sydney. In 2002, the School of Business had 522 students and in September, 2006 this increased to 1,574 (includes Cario).

1981 – June 2002 Department of Organizational Management, School of Business,

University College of Cape Breton

He taught 7 courses in the following diverse areas: Industrial Relations; Business Policy; Introductory Accounting, Personnel Management; Marketing, Financial Institutions and Introduction to Business. For six years, he was Chair, Department of Organizational Management.

November 1980 – 2006 Canadian Forces Militia

• Officer in Charge of Operations – 31 Service Battalion, Saint John, NB – November, 1980

• G 4 Cape Breton Militia District – September 1985 to November 1987

• Commanding Officer 35 (Sydney) Service Battalion – July 1987 to September 1991 (Lt. Col)

• Commanding Officer 30 Service Battalion – for Exercise on Guard 1990 – Summer 1990 (Lt.Col.)

• Commanding Officer 35 (Sydney) Medical Company – March 1992 to September 1993 (Lt. Col.)

• Nova Scotia representative – Canadian Forces Liaison Council Ottawa

• Appointed Honorary Lieutenant Colonel 35 (Sydney) Service Battalion in July, 2006

December 1979 - Controller – Atlantic & Technical Services

March 1981 Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation

April 1979 – November 1979 Director of Finance, Martin Equipment Limited, Sydney, NS

1976 – 1978 Comptroller, Canadian Forces Base, Cold Lake, AB

1973 – 1975 Comptroller, Canadian Forces Exchange System (CANEX), Ottawa, ON

1970 – 1972 Canadian Forces School of Administration & Logistics, Camp Borden, ON

1968 – 1970 Senior Logistics Officer, Canadian Forces Station, Barrington, NS

1967 – 1968 Base Supply Officer, Canadian Forces Base, Portage La Prairie, MB

1964 – 1966 Inventory Control Officer, Canadian Forces Base, Portage La Prairie, MB

Education:

1975 – 1976 Canadian Forces Command & Staff College

1971 – 1973 Master of Business Administration Program, University of Western Ontario, London, ON

1971 Certified Management Accountant, ON

1968 Canadian Forces Staff School (14 weeks)

1964 Bachelor of Commerce, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS

* * * * * * * * * *

Edward Osbourne Grimm

76, Sydney

After a life filled with love for his family and devotion to his work, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Edward Osbourne (Ozzie) Grimm, 76, of Sydney, passed away surrounded by family on Sat., Nov. 22, 2014.

Born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, he was the son of the late Willis Osbourne Grimm, Houlton, Maine and the late Marie Grimm, Halifax.

He leaves behind his wife, Mary (MacLean); daughter, Valerie MacNeill (Brian), Ottawa; daughter Christine Grimm (John MacNeil), Bible Hill and son, Michael (Charlene), Ottawa; eight grandchildren, Keegan, Kenzie, Logan, Cameron, Maari, Regan, Emma, Mya and his great grandson, Nathan. He also leaves behind his brother, Clayton; sisters, Dianne Hutchinson and Jean White, all living in Maine.

Edward enrolled in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1957 as a Private. He received his Bachelor of Commerce from Saint Mary’s University in 1964 and his MBA from the University of Western Ontario in 1973. He served seven years in the ranks, seven years as a Junior Officer, and seven years as a Senior Officer. After his retirement from the regular forces, he served thirteen years in the Canadian Forces Militia.

Following his military career he enjoyed twenty five years at Cape Breton University as an organizational management professor at the School of Business (1981- 2002); Dean of the School of Business (2002-2006); and Special Advisor to the President until his retirement in 2012. As Dean of Business, he was responsible for the leadership of the school and promoting the interests of Cape Breton University and the broader business community. This included the development of national and international partnerships which resulted in the School of Business starting a campus in Vancouver, BC; the Canadian International College in Cairo, Egypt; expansion of the MBA (CED) in Edmonton, Alberta and Kingston, Ontario; and partnerships at Lampton College at Jilin University, Peoples Republic of China. His passion for Cape Breton and the University were key drivers in growing the school of business by increasing enrollment and sustainability.

Visitation for the late Edward Grimm will take place 2-4 and 7-9 p.m on Tues. Nov. 25th at T. W. Curry Parkview Chapel. Funeral Mass will be held 11 a.m. on Wed. Nov. 26th at Our Lady of Fatima Church, 1452 Kings Road, Sydney River, NS.

Above all, Dad was a great family man, devoted to his children and grandchildren. He will be remembered with fondness as a mentor and a friend to many. Special thanks to Doctors Critchley, Naqui, and MacCormick, the medical staff at palliative care and the VON.