Buck Grim, 94, retired SBA director
February 29, 2024
John H. Grim Jr. of Heritage Plantation died Feb. 19. He was 94.
Known as Buck, he was born April 7, 1929, in Washington, D.C., the son of John H. and Francis A. Grim. He graduated from Carlisle Military School in Bamberg. He was a man without letters, but awarded himself an honorary degree from the College of Hard Knocks, which he attended for many years.
Mr. Grim served in the Air Force during the Korean War. He was a licensed aircraft mechanic and was employed with several airlines in the mid-1950s. He served in Southeast Asia for the Agency for International Development from 1968 to 1972 and retired from federal service as director of procurement for the Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C., in 1991.
He and his wife then moved to Pawleys Island where they lived the good life. Mr. Grim was an aviation enthusiast and avid golfer at Litchfield Country Club, where he first shot his age in 2005. He had six holes-in-one.
He is survived by two children, Debra Oliveri and Kevin, and by “honorable mentions” John Rozzelle, Debbie Bennett and Lindy Kerr; his grandchildren, Abbie Achatz, Bobby Oliveri, Rachel Sherman, and Jonathan and Kelli Ann Grim; and his great-grandchildren, Madison, Hayleigh, Aiden and Bristol Sherman, Mackenzie, Isabelle and Zachary Achatz, and Tinley, Shepard and Cohen Oliveri.
His wife of 68 years, Rebecca, died before him, as did his sons, John III and David, and his older brother, James.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Salvation Army, 2401 Anthuan Maybank Dr., Georgetown, 29440 (salvationarmyusa.org).
