As a plant pathologist, Gordon Grimm pursued his lifelong passions at work and play.
"Nature was such an important part of his being," said Katherine Grimm of Winter Park, his wife of 30 years. "When we'd go outside, he would look around and he'd say, 'This is my cathedral.' "
Grimm, 93, died on Nov. 6. "He was a sweet person and my best friend," said Katherine Grimm.
Born in Madison, Wis., Grimm earned his doctorate in plant pathology from the University of Wisconsin, where his studies were largely focused on the wheat that covered the Midwestern fields of his youth. He moved to Winter Park in 1953 for a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, researching Central Florida citrus plants. He was instrumental in helping growers combat phytophthora parasitica, a disease of the root system.
A keen observer, Grimm watched his new home grow along with the flora.
"He could remember when T.G. Lee's cows were actually in a pasture where the Colonial Plaza area is on Highway 50," said Katherine Grimm, referring to the Orlando dairy.
It was in Orlando that Gordon divorced his first wife and subsequently met Katherine, who had left New York to work at the Agriculture Department lab in 1971. They dated for years, during which time Gordon pursued his diverse artistic leanings. He studied sculpture at the Crealdé School of Art in Winter Park and created life-size busts of his father, two sons and the philosopher and theologian Albert Schweitzer, whom Gordon admired.
After he retired, Gordon and his wife spent three years abroad. The pair traveled to Russia, Egypt and throughout Europe, but it was the small German town of Zweibrucken where Grimm found kindred spirits.
"The little town had this park, and in it was a place called 'Europe's Rose Garden,' " remembers Katherine Grimm. "They had roses that could go back 200 years, and every year they would bring a new rose in. Gordon got to know the gardener very well. I think he must have photographed every single one of the hundreds of roses that were there, from the bud all the way to the full bloom."
After his return to America, Grimm added rose gardening to his hobbies, which already included photography and sailing. An avid woodworker, he built his own boat, a bright red sailing pram that he would take onto Lake Maitland near his Winter Park home. Gordon's oldest son, David Grimm of Altamonte Springs, remembers his father's attention to detail during sailing lessons.
"I remember him laying on the bottom of this little boat," said David, "and he's listening to hear the water moving against the hull. He could tell how smooth my turns were by the sound of the water."
David also recalls his father's time as an umpire during Little League games.
"One time, he called me out on strikes," David said. "I looked back at him and he said, 'It is what it is.' ... He was not a risk taker, really, but he was someone who felt you could learn a lot from your mistakes, from your suffering and that sort of thing."
During the final decade of his life, Grimm battled dementia, and his wife recalls "he was gracious and kind throughout it."
In addition to his wife and son David, Gordon Grimm is survived by children Laurie, Janet and Suzy of Winter Park and Gary of Orlando; a sister, Laura of Madison, Wis.; a stepson, James Butler of Philadelphia; and six grandchildren.
Arrangements were handled by National Cremation Society.