Obituary of Eldon Dwayne Grimes

ELDON DWAYNE GRIMES

February 26, 1932 – November 27, 2023

Eldon D Grimes, age 91 of Greeley, Colorado passed away Monday evening, November 27, 2023 at the Life Care Center of Greeley.  This is a short story of a remarkable, long and healthy life of an amazing man, husband, father, grandfather, and wonderful family man to an extended family.  Eldon was born February 26, 1932 at Laird, Yuma County, Colorado; the 7^th child of Clyde Raymond and Mary Irene (Taylor) Grimes.  All elder brothers; Clyde Dennis, Milton Merle, Robert James, and elder sisters; Capitola Irene, Lila Faye, and Etta Marie preceded Eldon in death.

Eldon was a man of passion for the outdoor sports of hunting and fishing (he was elected “cook” by colleagues and friends for both seasonal excursions), for gardening, and a master at woodworking from refinishing golf clubs to building Shaker cabinets, a family house and much more.  Note:  Elk meat was not a real big hit for his children. If you needed a handy man, Eldon was the man who could literally fix anything.  He was a dedicated, hard-working employee regardless of the job he held making sure his family was well provided.  He devoted many hours of service to various community organizations. 

Eldon grew up with his siblings in the rural town of Champion, Chase County, Nebraska.  He attended the Champion School through 8^th grade.  He played basketball at and graduated in 1950 from Chase County High School, Imperial, Nebraska.  While working at the Imperial lumber yard he was introduced to his first love, Joan Mavis Ness by her mother, Ruby Ness.  They fell in love.  Eldon enlisted in the US Army in the early 1950’s and was stationed at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas.  This minor diversion did not deter him from asking Joan to marry him which took place in Fort Smith, Arkansas on May 10, 1953.  When discharged from the Army they moved back to Imperial, Nebraska for a short time and then on to McCook, Nebraska where Eldon attended McCook Junior College to receive a business degree.  The family, now including three children moved back to Imperial and he built the family’s first house.  During his time in Nebraska his love for guns proved plentiful by bringing home numerous gun show trophies proving his marksmanship.  He and his father-in-law, Guy Ness started the G&N Bullet Shop.  Summer vacations always took place camping at Cameron Pass in Colorado and an occasional added road trip of the Colorado mountain communities.  A job opportunity arose in 1963 to become part of an accounting firm in Greeley, Colorado. 

He accepted the position and the family moved in the summer of 1963.  His loving wife, Joan passed away on January 6, 1999 of cancer at the age of 62.   

He was a grieving man but knew he did not want to live his remaining years of life alone.  On March 11, 2000 he met his second love, Shirley (Shepherd) Nash.  The meeting was a real estate signing appointment which led to an invitation for lunch and followed by “would you like to see a movie?”  Eldon had found his second love in life.   Shirley was so in love with Eldon she did not want to work.  So she retired as a real estate agent allowing freedom to do things together.  They were married December 31, 2000 in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Eldon had the minister sign the marriage certificate stating the date of marriage as January 1, 2001.  This was so he could remember the date of 01/01/01 as their anniversary date.  They traveled to Jamaica for their honeymoon and returned for their 10^th anniversary. Eldon now had an extended family of three sons, one daughter, and five more grandchildren in addition to his own two grandchildren and one extended grandchild and wife with two great grandchildren.  Eldon and Shirley decided in 2003 to spend Colorado winters in Arizona, Florence to be exact.  Every winter for the next eleven years they packed up and moved temporarily.  In the spring of 2012 at the age of 80, Eldon wanted to skydive.  After all, if the former President George H.W. Bush could do it at 80 years old, he could do it as well.  The jump took place at Eloy, Arizona in the spring of 2012.  Eldon was 80 years old and ready to jump with Shirley’s brother, Ralph and two friends.  The jump was successful and Eldon absolutely loved the experience.  Ralph on the other hand said he saw his whole life go before him and he would never jump again.  The packing and unpacking each year became burdensome and they decided in the summer of 2014 to move permanently to Florence, Arizona, a retirement community.  They sold the home in Greeley and headed south.  After living in Florence for five years, losing many of their Arizona community friends, and aging contributed to their decision to move back to Colorado….July, 2020 during the Covid pandemic.  Together, Eldon and Shirley were able to travel, visit friends and family residing in other states.  They celebrated with their grandchildren’s special occasions including sports, school events, birthdays, graduations, and weddings.  They were able to take short trips to Denver to see special artistic performances, visit family in Nederland and Creede, and spent early summers at Chuck and Chloe Childer’s cabin in Steamboat from 2007 – 2014 making necessary repairs and preparing it for Chloe to live in during the summer.  They took the opportunity to take this time as a mini vacation asking family to join them.  They took trips to Copper Canyon, AZ and rode the train, went to Las Vegas, visited family in Little Rock, Arkansas stopping in San Antonio, Texas exploring the Riverwalk, visited family in Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, and Montana. Some of the trips were for notable occasions of family members.  Eldon and Shirley stopped at Yellowstone for a visit and stayed at Crete, Nebraska for a wood carving seminar with friends.  They traveled to California with Shirley’s father and wife, Della in the motor home and even drove into downtown San Francisco.  Driving a motor home in downtown San Francisco was against the law.  Oh well!!  They did it!  Shirley’s passion in life is painting.  She was able to persuade Eldon to attempt painting himself.  He strived and prevailed with high quality paintings for an amateur.   There was a celebration for his wife, Shirley’s 80^th birthday in Golden, Colorado and a celebration of Eldon’s own 90^th birthday in Greeley.  Eldon spoke at both events sharing his thanks for all the goodness in his life and the people surrounding him.  There was much laughter and joy throughout his life up to the end.   One of his last final words being “Hallelujah”.  And so the story ends with a rich, fulfilling life to the end, Eldon was ready to reach out to another realm and start a new life in heaven.

Eldon’s job career began at the Imperial Lumber Company as employee and bookkeeper.  His career expanded with the move to Greeley, Colorado with his first job as an accountant at Anderson, Hunter, Thomte, and Kurtz, CPA’s.  He was manager of Northern Colorado Industrial Laundry, office manager at Dollarhide and Schwatz, CPA’s, worked at the Greeley National bank as VP and Trust Officer, was a member of the Lion’s Club and the 4^th of July pancake breakfasts, the Trinity Episcopal Church, Greeley Country Club for a short time, a Toastmaster, a Mason, and a volunteer Boy Scout Leader for his son, Kerry’s Boy Scout Troop. He was a social man who put his heart in his community.

Eldon is survived by his wife, Shirley of Greeley; his children, Trudy Krien of Fort Collins, Kristy (Grimes) LeClair of Windsor, Kerry and Shawn (Wiegand) Grimes of Windsor, Patrick and Terry (Stoffel) Nash of Fort Collins, Tim and Kelly (Nash) Thornton of Creede, Eric and Tracy (Young) Nash of Fort Collins, and Kipp Nash and Kimberly Bryant of Nederland, Colorado.  Surviving grandchildren are Andrew and Alexandra (Grimes) Cox, Andrew and Ashley Wiegand, Bryce LeClair, Zachary Nash, Rebecca Mendoza, Jake and Jessica (Mendoza) Hornick, Sara Mendoza, Aaron and Mickenzie (Nash) Hodson, Kaleb Bryant, Noah Thornton, and Oliva Thornton.  Great grandchildren include Hailey Wiegand, Hudson Wiegand, Titus Hodson, and Amos Hodson.  Also surviving are numerous nieces and nephews with spouses, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

A Life Celebration will be held on December 12, 2023 at the Windsong Estate Event Center from 12:00 – 3:00 pm.  The Event Center is located at 2901 Saddler Blvd, Severance, Colorado  80524.  Lunch will be provided.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Lions Club in care of Adamson Life Celebration Home, 2000 W 47^th Avenue, Greeley, CO  80634.

Condolences may be sent to the family at adamsoncares.com.