Jerry Lee Grim III

Jerry Lee Grim III, age 83, of Berwyn, IL and formerly from Lancaster, OH; Marietta, OH, and Williamstown, WV; went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at home after a long illness related to vascular dementia. He was born in Dayton, Ohio to Jerry Lee Grim, Jr. and Jeannette Cranmer Grim on June 1, 1942.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Martha Amelia Ash Grim in 1996, his sister Betty Grim Jensen of Miamisburg, OH in 2025, and sons Douglas M. Grim in 2011 and Joseph A. Grim in 2023. Jerry is survived by his children, Nancy Carol Lee Grim (Robert) Hunter of Berwyn, IL; Shannon R. Queen of Galloway, OH; Benjamin S. (Winnie) Grim of Columbus, OH; Tammy Riggs of Myrtle Beach, SC; Mary Grim-Riblett of Parkersburg, WV;  Sherry Cottrill of Parkersburg, WV; Donald Grim of Marietta, OH; John (Dee) Grim of Parkersburg, WV; David Dahlheimer, Sr. of Savannah, GA; and over 400 foster children; many of whom still call him “Dad”. Jerry is also survived by his sister, Theresa Grim Wilson, Huber Heights, OH and brothers David Grim, West Carrollton, OH; Dan (Helen) Grim Miamisburg, OH; and Don (Mi Suk) Grim, San Antonio, TX. He is also survived by 15 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and numerous other relatives, church family and friends.

Jerry graduated from Nelsonville High School, Nelsonville, OH in 1960. He earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Music with a concentration in Music Education from Ohio University, Athens, OH in 1964. He earned a Master’s of Library Science degree from Kent State University, Kent, OH in 1965. Jerry attended Asbury Theological Seminary for Theology Studies in Asbury, KY between 1994 to 1996.

Jerry was a music prodigy and began his music ministry as pianist and organist at age 12 at First United Methodist Church of Nelsonville, OH, and earned his local pastor’s license at age 16. Jerry served churches across Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky as Music Minister and/or Pastor. Rev. Grim served as Pastor for Beech Grove United Methodist Church on the mountain top near Science Hill, KY and King’s Mountain United Methodist Church in Lincoln County, KY prior to his wife’s passing. Pastor Jerry answered the call to serve as Music Minister/Assistant Pastor for Elmwood Park United Methodist Church, in Elmwood Park, IL and finished his music ministry calling with St. John’s United Methodist Church, Oak Park, IL.

As a music educator and professional musician, Jerry taught all instruments, choirs and musical theatre for all ages in school and non-school settings, operated Boyd’s Music Store, and played organ for the Lafeyette Hotel in Marietta, OH for a decade in the 1980s. From 1955 to 1959, Mr. Grim was noted in the Athens Messenger (Athens, OH) for his participation in local devotional and church chorus events—such as accompanying high school choruses on the piano for community programs. In College in the early 1960s, records show Jerry singing in the Wesley Choir at Ohio University. Jerry lived into his gifts and directed, sang, and/or accompanied many solo or vocal groups, bands, and choruses across the spectrum from sacred, classical, church choirs, praise bands, dinner music and popular music across the generations. Jerry was particularly recognized for his musical arrangements of hymns and sacred texts for choirs that ‘pulled open’ the chord structures to replicate an ‘Angel Choir’ he experienced in a vision as a young child. He was also well-known in the Mid-Ohio Valley for being a founding member of the King’s Fellowship Gospel Band.

Jerry served as a Librarian in schools and public Library Systems such as the Nelsonville Public Library, the Cincinnati Public Library, Toledo Public Library, Norfolk Public Library, and as a Ohio Correctional System Librarian. He co-authored a seminal work on cataloguing and edited a series of English-language children’s textbooks that were sent to be used in rural schools in Ghana. He is also credited for writing the first federally-funded grant to send Bookmobiles into rural community areas in the Cincinnati, OH region.

After his wife Martha went to be with the Lord, Jerry moved to Chicago, IL to be near his daughter Nancy and resumed his ministry work serving as Organist / Choir Director for several Episcopalian and United Methodist congregations in the Chicago, IL region. He came out of retirement from his work as teacher, librarian and pastor “temporarily” on more than one occasion to serve as a school bus driver for alternative school students, teach middle school at Socrates Greek Orthodox School in Chicago and to serve as a Professor and Director of the Teacher’s Writing Center for the College of Education at Chicago State University, Chicago, IL for five years before retiring permanently in 2008 for health reasons.

Across the decades, Jerry and his wife Martha dedicated their life to foster and adoptive care, having adopted 10 children, giving birth to their daughter Nancy, and finished raising countless others. Jerry and his wife’s legacy in foster and adoptive care ministry for “hard-to-place” exceptional needs children and youth from diverse cultural, race, and ethnic backgrounds spanned over 32 years together. Pastor Dad continued to mentor young adults with disabilities and exceptional needs for another 30 years in the Chicago, IL area. Jerry and Martha’s ministry continues to live on as their children live into that calling to create safe spaces for “the other” and to welcome “chosen family” into their lives.

Visitation for Jerry will be held on Sunday, May 31, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. until the time of his funeral service at 4:00 p.m. at St. John’s United Methodist Church, located at 1100 Ontario Street, Oak Park, IL 60302. A repast will follow the service in the Fellowship Hall. The Service of Death & Resurrection for Jerry will be a time for those who knew and loved him to gather in remembrance and celebration of his life. If desired, contributions may be made in Jerry's memory to St. John’s United Methodist Church, Oak Park, IL to support the music ministry for children and youth in lieu of flowers.

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