Distinguished Service Award To First CSC Grad To Serve As NSCS Trustee, Fran Grimes

By TENA L. COOK, CSC MARKETING COORDINATOR

CHADRON – Fran Grimes is a 2023 recipient of the Chadron State College Distinguished Service Award, given to friends of the school who over the years have demonstrated exceptional service to the college through their volunteer or leadership efforts.

Fran is a native of Chadron and earned her bachelor’s degree as a non-traditional student from Chadron State in 1979 and served as a member of the Nebraska State College Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2000.  It is believed she was the first Chadron State graduate to serve on the Board of Trustees.

Fran and her husband Jim, who earned a music education degree from CSC in 1967, were living in Grand Island when she was appointed to the Board of Trustees. Shortly after her final term on the board, the couple returned to Chadron where they currently reside.

Grimes served three terms on the Chadron State Foundation Board and was the first female chair of the board. She led the board during the five-year Vision 2011 Comprehensive Campaign that raised $16.5 million. Funds raised in the campaign were instrumental in the construction of the Rangeland Complex, Eagle Ridge Housing, the renovation of the Armstrong Physical Education Building, and the construction of the Chicoine Center.

Grimes said she was amazed at the fundraising abilities of the members of the leadership team and the generosity of friends and alumni who contributed.

The Grimes have donated an annual scholarship to the CSC Wind Symphony as well as including CSC in their estate plans.

The Grimes attend CSC concerts and athletic competitions. Over the years, they have also hosted many international CSC students in their home for meals, holidays, and special events.

“We had a positive experience at CSC and want others to have the same opportunity,” she said. “Everyone at CSC was so helpful and accommodating when I was trying to earn my degree in Chadron while my family was in Ogallala. It was a good experience. Staff, faculty, and administrators bent over backward encouraging and supporting me.”

Jim taught music in Morrill, Ogallala, and Hastings before landing his dream job teaching elementary instrumental music at six elementary schools in Grand Island. He retired in 2002.

The Grimes’ son, Jeff, is the information technology director at the First National Bank of Gillette. He and his wife, Lusi, have three adult sons, Jeremy, Jacob, and Isaac who all live and work in Sheridan, Wyoming. In the past, Jeff played the trumpet with the Powder River Symphony, and was a board member and board chair.

Fran’s parents both attended CSC briefly in the early 1940s before her father volunteered to serve in WWII and her mother left school to work. Her sister, Roxie Schmitz, is a CSC alum.