William Raymond Grimshaw, Migrant to

Tulsa, Oklahoma from New Jersey

Probable Photo of William R Grimshaw

(Note: Webpage in preparation)

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William Raymond Grimshaw was born in New Jersey in 1892 and lived in Tulsa Oklahoma by 1920, when he was recorded in the U.S. Census. He operated W.R. Grimshaw Construction Company in Tulsa, which built the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma in 1938 as well as the library in Tulsa. He apparently served as President of AGC Oklahoma in 1968. It is not yet known from which Grimshaw family in New Jersey William R Grimshaw is descended.

William and Bertha Grimshaw's grandson, Harry Douglas Grimshaw, worked as a young man for W.R. Grimshaw Construction Company and later formed his own business, Grimshaw Homes Company, which continues in the homebuilding business in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, although Harry passed away in 2008. Another grandson, Eric Grimshaw, is an attorney working in the Tulsa area.

Webpage Credits

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References

Thanks go to Eric Grimshaw for contributing valuable information to this webpage.

The photo shown below is labeled as "1968 Harry E Grimshaw" on a webpage showing Past Presidents of AGC Oklahoma, indicating he served in 1968. However, the photo filename is "Grimshaw W R Senior 1948", making it highly likely that this photo is of William R Grimshaw rather than his son, Harry Douglas Grimshaw. The gentleman appears to be about 57 years old, the age of William R Grimshaw in 1948, when the photo was apparently taken. If this conjecture is true, the photo would have been taken some 20 years before William served as AGC President.

Source: http://wekb.com/home/pastPresidents.html

Ray D Grimshaw sent the letter shown below to Edwin A Grimshaw in 1980 in response to a mailout by Ed Grimshaw in that timeframe.

Source: http://www.grimshaworigin.org/WebPages/EdwinCollectionPage2.htm

Grimshaw, Ray D. – Tulsa, Okla – (EAG 43)

April 24, 80

Tulsa, Okla. 74135

Dear Mr. Grimshaw

I don’t believe I am directly related to your Grimshaws.

W. R. Grimshaw – Bertha Grimshaw – Grand parents

|--W. R. Grimshaw Jr. – Dee Dee Grimshaw

|--|--5 sons and daughter

|--Harry D. Grimshaw – Rebecca Jean Darkley

|--|--Ray D. Grimshaw (Me)

|--|--Mack Grimshaw H.V.

Thanks for your concern.

Wish you luck!

Sincerely,

Ray D. Grimshaw

The 1920 and 1920 U.S. Censuses found William R and Bertha Grimshaw living Tulsa, with William having been born in New Jersey in 1891.

Ray Douglas Grimshaw, grandson of William R and Bertha Grimshaw, worked for his grandfather as a young man and in 1977 formed his own company, Grimshaw Homes, which continues in operation. Ray passed away in 2008.

Obituary with photo in Tulsa World...

Tulsa World

Ray Douglas Grimshaw

by: Staff Reports

Friday, January 25, 2008

GRIMSHAW - Ray Douglas, born December 25, 1945 in Stillwater, OK to Harry Douglas Grimshaw and Rebecca Darby Grimshaw passed away suddenly on Tuesday, January 22, 2008. Ray grew up in Tulsa, graduating from Cascia Hall Preparatory School where he was president of the senior class. He graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in January, 1969. He had been a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. After college, he served in the United States Army stationed in Germany. During his school years, he worked during the summers for his grandfather's company, W.R. Grimshaw Construction, on various building projects around Tulsa such as the downtown City-County Library. After his Honorable Discharge from the Army, he worked for various construction firms until 1977 when he founded a home building company. At the time of his death, he served as President of Grimshaw Homes Company and served on the board of Directors of the Homebuilders Assoc. of Greater Tulsa. He participated regularly in the Parade of Homes. He and his wife enjoyed traveling and playing golf. He was a member of Southern Hills Country Club. Ray is survived by: his wife of 31 years, Jane Scisson Grimshaw; and 2 daughters, Bonnie, a 3rd grade teacher in Las Vegas, and Robin, a student at OSU-Tulsa. He is also survived by: his cousins, Eric Grimshaw, Kristen Grimshaw, Paige Grimshaw, and Rick Grimshaw; his aunt, Lucille Darby; and step-mother, Bobbie Grimshaw. His service will be held at 11 a.m., on Saturday, January 26th at St. Johns Episcopal Church, Tulsa. Burial will be at Memorial Park Cemetery, immediately following the service. The family is requesting that contributions be made to St. John's Episcopal Church.

Grimshaw Homes Company, founded by Ray Douglas Grimshaw, continues in operation:

Source: http://www.grimshawhomes.com/html/aboutus.html 

Welcome to Grimshaw Homes

Since 1977, Grimshaw Homes Company has constructed over 1000 homes for satisfied customers in the Tulsa area.

Company News

With over 30 years in the home building industry, Grimshaw Homes Company has established a company focused on quality, attention to detail, & the customer.

Grimshaw Homes Company realizes building a new home is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. We build well-designed, beautiful homes in great communities to offer you better living.

About Us

Grimshaw Homes Company has been building with integrity and commitment for over 25 years. Grimshaw Homes Company was founded in 1977 in Tulsa, Oklahoma and has been providing quality homes ever since.

Our homes are designed from a practical, yet personal perspective - yours. We listen to our customers, identifying their needs and evolving our products to meet them. We offer highly desirable standard features, a long list of options and a variety of fresh floor plans with quality products from the industry's most respected manufacturers.

Grimshaw Homes Company has been one of the major builders in metropolitan Tulsa over the years and was the number one builder in Broken Arrow for 5 concecutive years (1999-2003). The Company has received numerous awards during Parade of Homes, including awards for Best Floor Plan and the WOW! Factor Award for Bonus Room.

Our Homes

Grimshaw Homes Company is currently building in Broken Arrow within 2 carefully planned communities: Renaissance Park & Bel Lago.

We are dedicated to providing beautiful homes in great communities, therefore our customers have better living.

All homes are complete with an extensive range of amenities. All subdivisions have been well designed offering such features as a pool, park, & sidewalks and are conveniently located near major interstates.

Conveniently located near Bass Pro Shop, Lowe's, Chili's, Los Cabos Broken Arrow and Target. Several favorite restaurants will be coming soon, such as: Hideaway Pizza and Olive Garden.

Grimshaw Homes

Grimshaw Homes Company is currently building in Broken Arrow within 2 carefully planned communities: Renaissance Park & Bel Lago.

All homes are complete with an extensive range of amenities. All subdivisions have been well designed offering such features as a pool, park, & sidewalks and are conveniently located near major interstates.

Prices vary depending on subdivision and are subject to change. Please visit us in each subdivision to preview our homes.

The following consolidated chart for William R and Bertha Grimshaw can be prepared from the above information on this webpage and information provided by Eric Grimshaw.

William Raymond Grimshaw (6 Dec 1892, Rutherford, New Jersey - ?) & Bertha unknown (19 Nov 1890 – May 1963, OK)

|----William R. Grimshaw (26 Apr 1918 - 12 May 1993) & Dee Dee ?

|----|----Eric Grimshaw

|----|----|----Paige Grimshaw

|----|----Paige Grimshaw

|----|----Rick Grimshaw

|----|----Kristen Grimshaw

|----Harry Douglas Grimshaw & Rebecca Darby

|----|----Ray Douglas Grimshaw (25 Dec 1945, Stillwater, OK – 22 Jan 2008, Tulsa, OK) & Jane Scisson. Married 28 Feb 1976.

|----|----|----Bonnie Elizabeth Grimshaw & David Michael Patonai. Married 21 Jun 2008.

|----|----|----Robin Patrice Grimshaw

|----|----Mack Grimshaw

|----Harry Douglas Grimshaw & Bobbie unknown

William R Grimshaw's ancestry has been provided by Eric Grimshaw as shown below. Thanks go to Eric for sharing this invaluable information.

William Grimshaw (born in England) & Mary Elizabeth Foster

|----William Grimshaw & Elizabeth ?

|----|----Ruth Grimshaw (1890 - ?)

|----Charles Grimshaw

|----James Frederick Grimshaw & Ettie M Goode (22 Apr 1867 - Dec 1921)

|----|----Gertrude Anne Grimshaw (10 Jun 1876, Rutherford, NJ - ?)

|----|----Elise Grimshaw (2 Oct 1891 - ?)

|----|----William Raymond Grimshaw (6 Dec 1892, Rutherford, NJ - ?) & Bertha unknown (19 Nov 1890 – May 1963, OK)

|----|----Frank Newman Grimshaw (19 Jan 1902 - Dec 1978)

|----|----James Frederick Grimshaw & Anna Harlan

|----|----|----Robert Grimshaw (born in Colorado Springs, CO?)

|----|----|----Evelyn Grimshaw (born Valley Spring, NJ?) & Bruce Hamilton

|----|----Harry Charles Grimshaw (5 Nov 1899 - ?)

This line of Grimshaws has not yet been "tied" to another immigrant line. William Grimshaw or his son, James Frederick Grimshaw, may have immigrated to the U.S. from England.

William R Grimshaw was the general contractor for construction of the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma in 1938. The following information is from the Will Rogers Museum website.

Source: http://www.willrogers.com/memorial/remember_when/contractor/grimshaw.html

W.R. Grimshaw Company of Tulsa was chosen as contractor for the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore and in less than a year after ground was broken April 21, 1938 — on November 4 — the museum was dedicated.

A lesson on Oklahoma history for builder’s great-granddaughter

Bonnie Grimshaw, daughter of Ray Grimshaw, well-known Tulsa builder, grew up in the construction business and often heard stories about her great-grandfather and “his” buildings.

When she came to the Will Rogers Memorial on a field trip with her Jenks East Elementary third grade, she got two Oklahoma history lessons. She learned not only about Will Rogers’ place in Oklahoma history, but also about her great-grandfather’s place in the history of the Memorial to Will.

“Oh my gosh, that’s my name,” she said she called out to her classmates when she saw an April 1938 photo of the groundbreaking of the Will Rogers Memorial. And there in that photo was her great-grandfather, W.R. Grimshaw, who had the contract for construction of the building.

“I bought all my class over to look at the picture,” she said excitedly from her Las Vegas home, where she teaches third grade. As she toured the museum that day, she also saw the building dedication plaque with the Grimshaw name.

Bonnie said growing up she heard a lot about buildings and projects of her great-grandfather. Before she came to the museum that day her mother told her W.R. Grimshaw had built the building she was visiting.

“I thought, OK sure. It’s another one of these buildings,” she said.

It was that visit that gave her a greater appreciation for her father’s place in building business history and a lesson about Will Rogers she never forgot.

Bonnie’s father, who died earlier this year, worked for his grandfather’s company during his school years. He was proud of his grandfather’s role in building Tulsa and Oklahoma, according to his wife, Jane.

In 1977 Ray Grimshaw founded his own company, Grimshaw Homes, named Number 1 builder in Broken Arrow five consecutive years from 1999 to 2003.

Eric Grimshaw, another grandson, knew of his grandfather’s involvement in the museum construction and visited as a child and as an adult.

He has an autographed photo of Will Rogers and Waite Phillips that was among his grandfather’s possession, handed down to Ray’s mother and later given him.

Interested in keeping the family history, Eric thinks his grandfather knew Will Rogers before his death, perhaps through the Phillips connection.

Bonnie Grimshaw Pataonai and her new husband, came from Las Vegas the family for the Will Rogers Days celebration. Eric and his daughter, Paige, and his sister, Kristin, joined the family gathering.

Grimshaw family

Family of the late W.R. Grimshaw came to Claremore for the 70th anniversary of the Will Rogers Memorial Museum opening . Great-grandaughter Bonnie Grimshaw Pataonai came from Las Vegas to join grandchildren Eric Grimshaw and Kristen Grimshaw of Tulsa.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Source: http://www.willrogers.com/memorial/remember_when/lantow/lantow.html

Larry Lantow’s best memory is Will’s 1834 visit

Larry Lantow is linked to Will Rogers and the Will Rogers Memorial in unique ways. His family moved to Claremore in 1934 and his father ran the King-Lawrence Lumber Company (later Lawrence Lumber and Everett Lumber), east of the Missouri Pacific railroad tracks in downtown Claremore.

W.R. Grimshaw, general construction contractor for Will Rogers Museum, purchased lumber from his father.

After a five-year stint in the U.S. Army, Lantow moved to Tulsa to attend the University of Tulsa and worked at Hope Lumber — and “Mr. Grimshaw was a customer.”

“The old man Grimshaw was really a great man,” he said.

Lantow remembers coming to the Memorial Nov. 4, 1938, but mainly remembers it was a “big deal for Claremore … all the hot shots were there for that ceremony.”

He has fondest recollections of the summer of 1934 when Will Rogers — during a summer band concert at the bandstand below Oklahoma Military Academy — spoke to homefolk about a trip to Russia.

A “Daily Telegram,” published in hundreds of papers across the nation on July 11 was datelined Claremore. It was in this column that Will made his famous Claremore quote “All I know is what I read in The Claremore Progress.”

Lantow attended Oklahoma Military Academy Junior College in the classes of 1936-37 and 1937-38, so was gone when the OMA band played for the Nov. 4, 1938 opening.

True the tradition of the male members of his family, Larry Lantow spent four years in the U.S. Army. Two of his brothers perished during World War II. Bob and Norman were paratroopers and “dropped down D-Day in France.” Bob died in battle six days later. Norman went on to be shot and captured, then rescued and sent to England to recuperate — and later died in Holland.

Brother, Bill, who lives in Claremore, served during the Korean conflict.

The Lantow names lives on in the name of the Claremore Zebra football field and stadium, especially honoring his brothers who died in service of their country. There were two sisters, the late Betty Nickerson, and Donna Fettig, who lives with her husband in Omaha.

After earning a degree in business management and accounting, Larry liked Hope Lumber and continued to work there, eventually becoming manager before retiring in 1982.

At 91, he still makes his home in Tulsa. He was in his element recently when former OMA cadets gathered for a reunion opening event at the Will Rogers Memorial and he looked around remembering 70 years and many changes ago.

(See companion webpage.)

¹Author

²Author

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Webpage posted December 2008. Updated March 2010 with addition of obituaries, photos, and explanatory text.