Dr. William H. Grimes, Jr. died in Atlanta on May 5, 2010. Dr. Grimes was born in 1912, to William H. Grimes, Sr. and Alice Powell Grimes in Colquitt, Georgia, where he spent his childhood and teen years. After graduating from Miller County High School in 1929, he attended Norman Park Junior College, where he was president of the senior class and a 1931 honor graduate. Dr. Grimes was graduated from Mercer University in 1933, where he was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity and Blue Key National Honor Fraternity. In 1937 he was graduated from Emory University School of Medicine, where he was president of his senior class. At Grady Memorial Hospital, he served an internship and was chief resident of the OB/Gyn department in 1940. Dr. Grimes was then invited to join Dr. R.A. Bartholomew and Dr. E.D. Colvin to form The Bartholomew OB/Gyn Medical Group, the first OB/Gyn group practice in the country, where he practiced gynecology and obstetrics from 1940 until 1986. Other partners in the group were Dr. Jack Fish, Dr. William Lester, and Dr. William Galloway. They were members of the hospital staffs of Emory University Hospital, Georgia Baptist Hospital, and Northside Hospital. Dr. Grimes was a member of the Atlanta OB/Gyn Medical Society, the Southern OB/Gyn Medical Society, and served as secretary and president of the South Atlantic Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. In 1968 he received the Outstanding Clinical Professor Award from the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Grimes was a Fellow in the American College of Surgery, and received a Certificate of Distinction for fifty years of service by the Medical Association of Georgia. A veteran of WWII, Dr. Grimes was a major in the U.S. Army and served as commanding officer of Station Hospital One in Fort Bragg, NC. He was on active duty on December 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked. In May 1945, he was transferred to the John L. Clem Hospital Ship headed for the South Pacific, when the war ended. He was a resident of Atlanta’s Druid Hills community from 1948 and a member of Druid Hills Golf Club. Dr. Grimes was a long-time member of First Baptist Church of Decatur, where he co-founded and taught the Alert Sunday School Class for fifty-four years. He also chaired the Board of Deacons, the Finance Committee, and served on the Counseling Committee of First Baptist Church of Decatur. In the community, Dr. Grimes was president of Druid Hills Civitan Club and Men’s Garden Club of Atlanta, held leadership roles including serving as chaplain in American Legion Post 134, and served as Chairman of the Board of Clairmont Oaks, Inc. Dr. Grimes delivered thousands of babies during his 46-year career as an obstetrician and gynecologist; and was a beloved husband, father, step-father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Dr. Grimes was predeceased by his first wife, Rosalinde Richards Grimes, the mother of their five children. He is survived by Eleanor Harper Grimes, his wife of forty-two years. He is also survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Billy and Claire Grimes; daughter and son-in-law, Rosalind and George Simpson; son and daughter-in-law, John and Jean Grimes; son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Nancy Grimes; daughter and son-in-law Mary and David Galloway; and sister, Wattie Grimes Hays. Step-children are Carol Ann and John Culpepper and Brenda Hysmith. Thirty grandchildren and great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews survive Dr. Grimes. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 11:00 A.M. at First Baptist Church of Decatur with Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell and Dr. Peter Rhea Jones officiating. The Alert Sunday School Class will serve as honorary pallbearers. Interment will be at Decatur Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to First Baptist Church of Decatur Debt Reduction Fund at 308 Clairemont Avenue, Decatur, Georgia 30030-2506. Visitation will be Friday, May 7, 2010 from 5 – 7 P. M. at A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home in Decatur.
