Harper Granville Grimm, Jr., passed away on June 20, 2026, in Morgantown, WV. Gran was born April 3, 1944, in Philadelphia, PA, to Harper Granville Grimm and Nellie Tompson Simmons Grimm. He was preceded in death by his parents and is lovingly remembered by his wife of 60 years, Jeanne Sue Arbogast Grimm; his son, Geoffrey Granville (Andrea) and grandsons: Andrew Granville, Noah Anthony, Jacob Silas and Bryant Fox, all of Lexington, KY; his daughter, Sarah Malinda Grimm Harris, and granddaughters, Jessica Virginia and Samantha Rose, of San Diego, CA; his sisters, Elizabeth Grimm Roth (Jack) and Susannah Grimm Poe (Steve); three brothers-in-law, David K. Harris, Robert and Richard Arbogast (Debra) and several beloved nieces and nephews.

 

Gran was a man of many interests. He was a lifelong train and model railroad enthusiast; he studied and researched Tyler County, WV, history in relationship to the life and times of his ancestors in the Gorrell and Grimm Families; he loved Blue Grass music, with the Carter Sisters being special favorites; Gran had an intense interest in national politics and a deep love and concern for our democracy and he was committed to maintaining the happy memories of growing up on Charleston’s west side and keeping in touch with childhood friends by telephone and through a lively social media presence.

 

Some of his happiest years were the twenty years he spent coaching basketball. When his fourth-grade daughter, Sarah, signed up to play in a league at North Elementary School, he began coaching and continued coaching with middle and high school aged AAU teams. He and the teams traveled to numerous tournaments in many places including Tennessee, Florida and Mule Shoe, Texas, winning many trophies along the way. He was very proud that so many parents and team members kept in touch with him throughout the years, still thanking him for the positive impact he had on their lives.

 

Gran was a proud 1962 graduate of Stonewall Jackson High School in Charleston WV, and of West Virginia University in 1966, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, and where he also studied political science, journalism and law. However, a brief course in computers was to change the course of his life and send him permanently into the emerging field of computer science. He started working in the field’s infancy when computer boards had to be rewired between input and output operations. Gran first worked on a room-sized IBM computer in the basement of Stewart Hall on the campus of West Virginia University. When he enlisted in the U. S. Navy, one of his assignments was at the Active Enlisted Plans Branch of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) in Arlington, VA, where he was awarded the Navy Professional Achievement Award for his systemization of the Navy’s worldwide enlisted manpower planning computer system. During this time, he also taught computer programming at the Baltimore Business School and programmed several systems for the Baltimore City Planning Department. After his four-year Navy enlistment, he worked as a civilian for the U. S. Center for Naval Analyses and then for the U. S. Department of Agriculture in the Economic Research Service, where he was able to use his degree in economics in tandem with his computer expertise.

 

He was finally able to return to West Virginia when he joined a consulting firm in Charleston, WV, which was designing data analysis and management systems for the WV Virginia Department of Transportation. His final career move was to Morgantown, where he joined the West Virginia Network for Educational Telecomputing (WVNET), and worked as a senior systems analyst and program manager. For several years, Gran enjoyed representing WVNET on a statewide council, which included representatives from all WV colleges and universities. The council made recommendations on statewide technology issues to the West Virginia Board of Trustees of Higher Education Policy.

 

Gran maintained an interest in all technical things and was deep in the study of artificial intelligence at the time of his passing. AI had piqued his curiosity back in the days when he was working at the Department of Agriculture where he foresaw its potential for good and the difficulties that might ensure as its use became widespread.

 

Gran was brilliant, kind and always thinking.

 

The family would like to express their gratitude to the doctors, nurses and staff of Ruby Hospital for their care of Gran. We would also like to thank Pat and Donna, family friends, who provided loving care whenever they were needed.

 

A date for internment of Gran’s ashes, which will be in Friendly Cemetery, Tyler County, and a date for a gathering of family and friends in Morgantown will be announced later.

 

McCulla Funeral Home has provided cremation services and online condolences may be extended to the family at www.McCulla.com