Barbara was born in 1942 to the late Robert P Greim, Jr. and Lillian Blessing Greim of Swarthmore, Pa., where she grew up. When Barbara graduated from Swarthmore High School, she received a National Merit Scholarship which she used to attend Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pa. Barbara received her Bachelor of Science Degree Magna cum Laude with Honors in Mathematics from Ursinus College in 1964. She did her graduate study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she received her Ph.D. Degree in Mathematics in 1970.
In 1969, Barbara achieved her lifetime goal of being a teacher when she joined the faculty of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She immediately began to improve the resources available in the UNCW William Madison Randall Library, an interest that continued throughout her whole life. At UNCW, Barbara developed the passion for computer science that was the focus of most of her scholarly pursuits for the rest of her career. She also served on numerous campus, university-wide, and state-wide committees and boards during her years at UNCW. Barbara’s efforts in developing the UNCW Computer Science program was recognized in 1998 when UNCW established the Department of Computer Science and named her its interim chair, a position which she held until her retirement in July 2000 after 31 years at UNCW.
Barbara was an avid flower and organic vegetable gardener throughout her entire life, saving and planting seed from her hundreds of impatiens and camellia plants each year. She also enjoyed NASCAR racing, sewing, needlework, birding, mystery novels, and renovating her house. Barbara was a member of Pine Valley United Methodist Church in Wilmington.
Barbara is survived by several cousins and numerous friends and colleagues.
Services were private.
Memorial gifts in lieu of flowers may be made to the Computer Science Chairs’ Scholarship Fund, UNCW, Wilmington, NC 28403.
The staff of Coble Ward- Smith Funeral Home is honored to serve the family and friends of Barbara Ann Greim.
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