First Generation

1. Gary LaVerne GRIGGS (*) (~) (+) (*+) was born on 8 December 1940 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI. He was born on the kitchen table in an apartment above Vlasak's Bowling Alley at 210 Superior Avenue. According to his birth announcement, he weighed 7 pounds and had "dark hair and dark eyes."

On February 23, 1941, he and his mother went to Milwaukee to join his father, who had gone there for work. He and his parents lived with one of his dad's cousins, Helen (Vandervort) Borchardt, and her husband, Art, at 1036 West Brown Deer Road until July 1941. They then lived in apartments at 719 South 34th Street and 620 North 26th Street in Milwaukee until his parents bought a home at 2240 South 55th Street in West Allis in July 1942. It was the family home until his parents moved back to Tomah in 1979.

After graduating from West Allis Central High School in June 1958, he attended the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee for one semester. He then joined the Air Force in February 1959 and went through 6 weeks of Basic Training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX, followed by six months of tech school at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS. During seven and one-half years in the Air Force, he was next stationed at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska (October 1959-October 1961); North East Cape Air Force Station, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska (October 1961-May 1963); the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Meade, MD (May 1963-September 1963), and in Darmstadt, Germany (September 1963-August 1966).

During his 7 1/2 years in the military, he served as a member of the U.S. Air Force Security Service (USAFSS), which was involved with communications intelligence gathering and analysis operations around the world. He was proficient in Morse Code and voice communications.

He met his wife, Barbara, while he was stationed at Fort Meade. They met on July 11, 1963, were married on September 7th, and were then stationed in Germany for three years. Their daughter Jennifer was born there in March 1965.

In August 1966 he was discharged from the Air Force and returned to UWM, where he received a BBA degree in Accounting in 1969. Their daughter Allison was born in July 1968 while they lived at 1616 East Iron Street in Bay View, a suburb of Milwaukee.

In June 1969, he was recruited by Uniroyal, Inc. as an Internal Auditor on the company's Corporate Audit Staff and was based in Allen Park, MI, a suburb of Detroit. He served on the Audit Staff for three years and then accepted a position at the company's Tire Division headquarters in Detroit, serving in several division accounting positions. He was promoted to Assistant Controller at Uniroyal's Tire Plant at the same location in May 1975.

When the family first moved to the Detroit area, they lived in a rented town house in Taylor (15928 Scott Drive), and their daughter Stephanie was born in August 1969 while they lived there. They bought their first home in June 1970 in Southgate (12770 Commonwealth Avenue), and their son Jon was born while they lived there, in July 1972.

In June 1976, after receiving a Masters in Business Administration degree from Michigan State University, he and his family moved to Eau Claire, WI, where he was the Assistant Controller and then Controller at another of Uniroyal's tire plants. In August 1980, he was transferred to their Opelika, AL, tire plant, where he also served as Controller. In May 1983, he was promoted to Division Controller for Uniroyal's Industrial/Textile Division, based in Winnsboro, SC. His family then lived in Columbia, SC (216 Brookspring Road) from 1983 until 1999.

In 1986, Uniroyal sold its operations in South Carolina, and Gary left the company to join Fortune Personnel Consultants, a nationwide executive search firm, at its largest office, in Columbia, SC. He served as an Executive Recruiter and as Director of Finance and Administration for the firm. He worked for Fortune for ten years until August 1996, when he left to start his own executive search firm, Career Concepts Group.

In February 1999, Barbara and Gary moved to Pawleys Plantation (117-3 Whitetail Way) in Pawleys Island, SC. He continued to run his business from his home there until he retired in 2006.

In January 2016, he was asked to serve as the Accountant for The Dieter Company, a property management and real estate firm, where his wife, Barbara and son, Jon, were real estate agents, and he worked there until June 2019, when he again retired.

While their children were young, Gary was very active in their children's school and church activities. He also enjoyed boating and camping with them. After they had grown, he enjoyed playing golf, with special highlights being a golf vacation in Scotland in July 1998 (where he scored an 87 while playing the Old Course at St. Andrews), playing in the Mercedes Golf Championships tournament in Hawaii in January 2000, and taking a golf vacation in Ireland in July 2001 (where he scored an 84 at The Tralee Golf Club). His other hobbies were personal computers, genealogy, and spectator sports.

Between 1999 and 2015, he and Barbara were active in St. Peter's Lutheran Church, where he served as president of the Congregation for two years, as Financial Secretary and chairman of the Finance Committee for thirteen years, and in other church organizations. He also served as a Pastoral Assistant for church services.

In Pawleys Island, he was active at various times as vice-chairman of the Board of Directors of the Coastal South Carolina Chapter of the American Red Cross, as a volunteer with the Georgetown County Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, as president of the Pawleys Glen II Homeowners Association, as vice-president and treasurer of the Pawleys Plantation Property Owners Association, and as treasurer of the Pawleys Island Highway Beautification Program.

Beginning in August 2015, he and Barbara were members of Amazing Grace Lutheran Church in Carolina Forest, a suburb of Myrtle Beach, where he served as the Treasurer of the PreSchool. In June 2022, he and Barbara moved to a one-story home in Murrells Inlet (202 Sugar Loaf Lane) so that they could be closer to their church. He was baptized on 25 December 1940 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI. at the home of his grandmother, Ms. Lydia Pergande, by Rev. Herbert Schaller of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. His sponsors were Mrs. Lydia Pergande and an uncle, Fred Vandervort. He appeared in the census on 4 April 1950 in West Allis, Milwaukee County, WI. Gary was confirmed on 16 May 1954 in West Allis, Milwaukee County, WI. at Nain Evangelical Lutheran Church. He graduated in June 1969 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee Township, Milwaukee County, WI. from the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee with a BBA Degree in Accounting. He graduated in June 1976 in East Lansing, Ingham County, MI. from Michigan State University with an MBA Degree from the Advanced Management Program.
Gary has Ancestral File Number LDCS-XZ5.