Joseph Williamson Grier Jr.

A native of Charlotte, Mr. Grier was the son of Beulah Mae Wallace Grier and Joseph Williamson Grier, Sr. He graduated in 1937 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Harvard University Law School in 1940.

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, Grier postponed his law career and volunteered for the U.S. Army. In three years, Grier advanced from private to the rank of Major, eventually commanding the U.S. Army’s 471st anti-aircraft automatic battalion on Luzon in the Philippine Islands. On his return from the war, he was active in the American Legion.

In 1949, he married Catherine Langdon Smart, who preceded him in death. Married fifty-nine years, they raised six children. He was a devoted husband, provider, and father who ruled the household with a firm and loving hand, set the bar high, and led by example.

Next to family, the practice of law was Mr. Grier’s passion. For the first four decades of his career, he helped build one of Charlotte’s leading law firms as senior partner of what was for many years Grier, Parker, Poe and Thompson. After Mr. Grier’s eldest son, Joseph Williamson Grier, III, began practicing law, Mr. Grier resigned from the firm to found, in 1984, the new firm of Grier & Grier, now Grier, Furr, & Crisp. Mr. Grier continued to serve as of counsel to his firm after he retired, visiting his downtown office regularly until the past year.

Mr. Grier was devoted to his native city and thrived on involvement in chosen causes and institutions, often working quietly behind the scenes to build relationships and effect positive change. Long active in civic affairs, he was also deeply committed to First Presbyterian Church, the Charlotte YMCA, and Queens University.

He served on the City Park and Recreation Commission through the 1950s and early 1960s. As chairman from 1958 to 1963, he was instrumental in the integration of Charlotte’s parks and public swimming pools. In 1959, five years before the public schools were integrated, he orchestrated the peaceful transition from segregated pools to integrated pools without a court order or the slightest disturbance.

From the 1960s on, Mr. Grier championed the proposed consolidation of city and county governments. That effort’s ultimate defeat was one of his greatest civic disappointments.

As legal counsel to the Charlotte YMCA, Mr. Grier helped facilitate its integration, beginning with its health club in 1969. The same year, he was elected to the YMCA Board of Trustees and served as both member and chair for many years.

A lifelong member of First Presbyterian Church, he served numerous terms as deacon, elder, and trustee, a strong and steady advocate for preserving the church’s central city mission of outreach to those less fortunate. He served on the pastor nominating committees for each of the senior pastors called by the church since the 1960s and was a founder of the Community School of the Arts.

In 1963, he was appointed to the North Carolina Board of Higher Education. He later credited that experience with preparing him for his role on the Queens College Board of Trustees during a tumultuous period during the early 1970s, when the school was at risk of closing. Under Mr. Grier’s leadership as chairman, the board stabilized the administration, solicited substantial gifts, and recruited Dr. Billy O. Wireman as president, securing the school’s future.

Mr. Grier remained intensely loyal to his alma mater in Chapel Hill. He was an avid fan of Tar Heel basketball and supported the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in his later years.

In addition to his service to the community and profound sense of integrity, Mr. Grier will be remembered for his keen intellect, his astute command of language, and his shrewd sense of humor.

Mr. Grier is survived by his six children and their spouses or significant others, Joseph Williamson Grier III and Ann Brookshire, Catherine Grier Kelly and William Kelly, Susan MacLauchlin Grier and Patricia Cole, Roy Smart Grier and Charlotte Grier, Bruce Taliaferro Grier and Cindy Grier, and Robin Wallace Grier and Patricia Grier; fourteen grandchildren, Bradley Christopher Phillips, Sara Grier Johnson, John Williamson Phillips, Charlotte Caroline Grier, Catherine Smart Grier, Robert Wallace Grier, Laura Brookshire Grier, Lindsay Ann Grier, Thomas Evans Kelly, Joseph Williamson Grier IV, Julia Elaine Grier, Stuart Grier Kelly, Stephen Hubbard Grier, and Tyler Smart Grier; and three great-grandchildren, Wesley Grier Johnson, Jillian Pamela Johnson, and Luke Roberts Johnson.

The family wishes to express its heartfelt appreciation to Mr. Grier’s caregivers at The Cypress of Charlotte for their exceptional service during the final years of his life.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 28, 2010 at First Presbyterian Church, 200 W. Trade St., Charlotte. The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Monday evening at the home of Joseph W. Grier, III, 1000 Queens Rd. West, Charlotte, and again at the church following the memorial service. Condolences can also be extended at www.harryandbryantfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to First Presbyterian Church, 200 West Trade St., Charlotte, NC, 28202; Queens University, 1900 Selwyn Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28274; or the Charlotte YMCA, 500 East Morehead Street, Charlotte, NC 28202.

Harry and Bryant is assisting the family.