Brooks H. Grimme

Brooks H. Grimme, Age 83, of Orlando, Florida, passed away peacefully at his home on January 2, 2009. He was born July 13, 1925, in Memphis, Tennessee, the only son of the late Brooks H. Grimme, Sr., and Valerie Richardson Grimme.

Mr. Grimme was a graduate of Tech High School, Memphis, and was a proud veteran of World War II, serving from 1943-1946 in the U.S. Navy, where he saw active duty in the Pacific Theater of Operations, with his final duty station being at Cavite Naval Base, Manila, the Philippine Islands. During WWII, he was one of a select few to be chosen for extensive advanced training in aviation electronics radio/radar technology at the Naval Electronics Technicians School located in Corpus Christie, Texas, and had achieved the rank of AETM1c at the time of his discharge in 1946.

Upon his arrival home in 1946, he began his college studies at Colorado A & M University, the University of Arkansas, married his sweetheart, Martha, in 1947, and then completed his upper division studies at the University of Florida, where he graduated with top honors, Magna Cum Laude, in the College of Engineering, BSEE, in June, 1950. He was the only engineering graduate to be selected by the General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, for advanced engineering training. He was also awarded an all-expense paid, 3 day vacation tour by Eastern Airlines for his outstanding educational achievements while at the University of Florida.

He left General Electric in 1952 to take an electrical engineering position with Florida Power & Light in Miami, Florida. After 6 years with FP&L, in 1958 he received a prestigious appointment by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, which in 1960 became the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), to the Marshall Space Flight Center at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, as a Research Engineer, where he managed his own team of engineers and technicians working within the nation's new space program.

Mr. Grimme was an important member of Dr. Werner von Braun's historic fledgling team of rocket engineers and scientists that successfully developed and flew the Redstone, Atlas-C, D, E & F, Jupiter and Saturn booster rockets used by the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo manned space flight missions. During his tenure at Redstone, his pioneering research work also encompassed surface-to-surface guided ballistic missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles (battlefield nuclear weapons systems), specifically, the Corporal, Lance, Nike-Zeus, Pershing I & II, and Titan I & II. He was invited several times to actively participate as part of the launch team at Cape Canaveral for the live launches of the early satellite program.

While involved with the space program, he received the credit and the patents for his inventions used in missile/rocket navigational and guidance systems. At the same time, he furthered his graduate engineering studies at UCLA and the University of Alabama, Huntsville, where he qualified for and received his PE license.

In 1966, Mr. Grimme transferred his research position to the Department of the Navy, and was reassigned to the new Naval Underwater and Training Center located in Orlando, Florida. While with the Department of the Navy, he again received the credit and the patents for more inventions that were critical in the development of guided underwater torpedoes, SUBROC anti-submarine ballistic missiles, and the submerged submarine launched Polaris missile systems.

In 1971, after a brilliant and distiguished career as a respected space engineer and scientist, Mr. Grimme retired from government service. He then began a new career as a commercial property & business broker, which evolved into his own successful financial investments & commodities trading group. In his later years, he very much enjoyed being an ardent fan of his beloved Florida Gators, and loved traveling to the home football games in Gainesville when his health permitted it. He was also an avid outdoorsman, who loved to hunt and fish.

He is survived by his wife, Martha; his daughter, Kay Grimme Collie of Orlando, Florida; his son, Brooks Gary Grimme, and his wife, Susan, of Middleburg, Florida; 6 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

Graveside services with full military honors, will be held at 1:00PM, Wednesday, January 7, at Florida National Cemetery Bushnell, FL. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice of the Comforter, 480 W. Central Parkway, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714.