This week’s column suggestion came from an interesting source. It seems that our subject, Bill Grambo, has a fan club called “the Porch Group!” This group (members of the Congregational Church) wrote to tell me they unanimously approved of Bill being interviewed for this column. Naturally I concurred.
I have known Bill since I was in high school when I worked as a cashier at Lammers Foods and Bill was the Produce Manager. We hadn’t seen each other for over 56 years, so we had a lot of fun reminiscing. Oh, the stories we could tell!
But that isn’t the purpose of this article, so let’s get down to business.
First, we talked about Bill’s high school memories. He confessed with a guilty grin that he took great pride in never having taken a single textbook home during his four-year career. His best memory was that he was a member of MHS’s first baseball team (serving as a pitcher) during his sophomore – senior years in school.
When I asked him about teachers he most remembered, he listed some well-known educators from Menomonie’s past—Les McKay—algebra teacher and head basketball coach, Bob Melrose—world history. Bill described him as “quite a character” and shared this humorous story: once Bob, who was a pipe-smoker, came to school with pipe in hand and then snuffed it out before sticking it into the pocket of his suit coat. After hanging his jacket on a hook on the back of the door, he began class. Shortly after class started, students began to smell smoke and then watched as Bob’s jacket ended up in flames. I guess he hadn’t put the pipe out completely before putting it in his pocket after all!
Another memorable teacher was Hattie Bates—math. According to Bill, she was an outstanding teacher but very strict. This was back in the day when teachers could use corporal punishment. She had no problem keeping her students under control.
After high school graduation, Bill enrolled at UW-Stout. Unfortunately, he was unaware that he had to attend classes and do the required work. “I had a good time there but finally figured out that they didn’t offer a degree in socializing,” Bill quipped.
It was at this time that he went to work at Lammers as the Produce Manager staying on for eight years. Bill’s story was featured in an excerpt from “News & Notes” (a section of the CVTC newsletter): “I was 30 years old and had two small children (with his wife June, whom he had met at Stout). I was kicking around in the grocery business and not getting any younger. I had to figure out something different for myself. It turned out that I was pretty good at math, so I decided to try the Accounting program.”
It took Bill some time to adjust since most of his teachers and the students were younger than he was. But it didn’t take long for him to feel at home. He flourished in the program, making the honor roll before graduating in 1970.
Landing a job with Bob Schumacher who had just started his own accounting business, Bill rose rapidly to the role of partner. By the time Schumacher retired, the firm had five partners. It provided complete bookkeeping and tax preparation services for roughly 400 business customers and more than 1,000 individual customers as well.
Bill noted with pride that all five of the partners were graduates of the CVTC Accounting program. Bill retired in 1997, but the firm lives on in Eau Claire as Johnson, Runkel & Anderson, Inc.
Bill treasured his business accomplishments. “My time at CVTC was truly life changing.” Financially it turned out to be a great move. But more importantly, it changed how I felt about myself. It gave me a feeling of satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.”
Bill’s most significant accomplishments revolved around his family. He and his wife June raised two sons—David, who was an ROTC student at UW-Madison—and Jeff, a graduate from UW-Eau Claire. The Grambos also have four grandchildren and one great- grandchild.
Son David currently works for the Defense Department after 22 years in the Navy and serving in both Iraq and the Persian Gulf. He and his family live in Virginia Beach.
Son Jeff is a CPA and worked in Racine before moving to Northwest Airlines. While there, he was able to have June and Bill participate in the airlines program where they fly free as long as vacant seats were available. Jeff is now retired and lives in Hudson.
Bill and June’s biggest adventure was a trip to Japan. They’ve also been to the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and taken a number of cruises. Bill notes that June loves to travel and has been to many other destinations—France, England and Switzerland— while he heads up to the Otter Creek area where they own 160 acres of hunting land.
Bill has been active in the Menomonie community through the UCC Congregational Church where he’s been a member for 60 years and a Lions Club member for 28 years. In addition he served on the board for WESTconsin Credit Union.
It was a wonderful morning’s interview catching up with each other’s lives. I’m so glad the “the Porch Group” brought us together!
Judy Foust is a retired longtime 7th Grade Reading Specialist at Menomonie Middle School. To submit info to her or to request an interview she may be contacted at [email protected]
