Gertrude Joy Grimm
Gertrude Joy Grimm from the 1926 yearbook of Wellesley College
Born
Gertrude Joy

(1904-08-16)August 16, 1904
Plainfield, New Jersey, United States
DiedJune 2, 1988(1988-06-02) (aged 83)
Sarasota, Florida, United States
Other namesGertrude Joy Laurence, Gertrude Joy Ferris

Gertrude Joy Ferris Grimm (August 16, 1904 – June 2, 1988) was an American businesswoman. During World War II, she was assistant to Mildred McAfee, commander of the WAVES, the women's branch of the United States Navy Reserve.

Early life

Gertrude Joy was born in Plainfield, New Jersey,[1] the youngest daughter of James Richard Joy and Emma Prentice McGee Joy. Her father was the editor of the New York Methodist Christian Advocate, a church publication,[2][3] and her mother a clubwoman.[4] Her older sister Helen went overseas for YWCA work during World War I.[5] She graduated from Wellesley College in 1926.[6]

Career

Joy worked in retail and advertising, at W. & J. Sloane in New York, and at J. L. Hudson in Detroit.[7] "Department store work gives one experience in working with people as no other experience can," she explained in 1942.[3] During World War II, she worked in the personnel office of the War Department in Washington, D.C., then was commissioned by the Navy to work as assistant to WAVES commander Mildred McAfee.[8] She helped to formulate housing standards for the women's reserve program, and established statistical records of the program's personnel. In 1946, she was decorated with a Navy Commendation ribbon by the Secretary of the Navy, for "outstanding performance of duty as a special assistant to the director of the Women's Reserve."[9]

Personal life

Gertrude Joy married three times. Her first husband was Irving M. Ferris. They married in 1929 and he died in 1935.[10][11] Her second husband was banker Richard Lee Laurence; they married in 1936 in Michigan, and divorced in 1939. Her third husband was Peter Grimm; they married in 1942, in Washington, D.C. She had a son, Peter. Her third husband died in 1978, and she died from cancer in 1988, at the age of 83, in Sarasota, Florida.[1][7]

Grimm's niece Joy Rushmore Hilliard was a conservationist based in Colorado.[12][13] Her nephew Richard E. Mooney was a noted journalist and newspaper editor.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 "Gertrude Joy Grimm; Waves Officer, 83". The New York Times. June 4, 1988. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Former Gertrude Joy, Now Executive in Waves, to Spend Weekend Here". The Courier-News. October 17, 1942. p. 1. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 "Business Life Said Valuable Aid to Waves". The Courier-News. October 19, 1942. p. 4. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Mrs. J. R. Joy Dead; Leader in Many Activities". The Courier-News. April 6, 1934. p. 14. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Miss Joy Bride of Murray Rushmore". The Courier-News. March 14, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Wellesley College, The Wellesley Legenda (1926 yearbook).
  7. 1 2 "Gertrude Joy Grimm". The Courier-News. June 4, 1988. p. 17. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Senior Waves Officer". The Courier-News. October 20, 1942. p. 10. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Plainfielder Honored by Navy". The Courier-News. January 24, 1946. p. 5. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Irving M. Ferris Estate is Placed at $51,194.03". The Courier-News. July 5, 1935. p. 3. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Irving M. Ferris". The New York Times. March 10, 1935. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  12. ↑ Kirk, Andrew G. (2001). Collecting Nature: The American Environmental Movement and the Conservation Library. University Press of Kansas. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978-0-7006-1123-2.
  13. ↑ "Joy Hilliard, 1923-2010". Vail Daily. September 2, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  14. ↑ Lurye, Rebecca (January 12, 2019). "Former Courant Editor Richard Mooney dies at 91". Hartford Courant. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
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