Oscar B. Grieb dies at 80,
By Fred Keller,
Posted: Aug. 4, 2009, Living Sussex Sun
One of the forward looking and key decisions in the history of the Village of Sussex was during a period between February and October in 1958 when the Village Board came together and promoted the idea of a large village park and then acted decisively – over some heated opposition – to buy the Sussex Village Park. A new Sussex resident, Oscar Grieb, immediately got into local politics and was elected to the Village Board. Grieb was one of the 7-0 votes in favor of buying the 78-acre future park land for about $36,800, which came out to about $470 per acre.
Grieb, at age 80, died Sunday, July 25 at Pewaukee River Hills retirement facilities, where he had a five-year fight with post polio syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease.
He was born July 12, 1929, in Milwaukee to Edmond and Natalia Grieb. At age 14, in 1943, he came down with polio and survived but walked the rest of his life with crutches or used a wheelchair or mechanical scooter.
Married twice, he worked 33 years for Pabst Brewery and served for about 20 years as the president of the Pabst Credit Union. In retirement, he had a job out of his Sussex Sunset home selling business and club promotional items, calling the business SES Specialties. Grieb served eight years as a Sussex trustee.
In retirement, he became a member of the Sussex Lisbon Business and Professional Association (SLBPA), holding an executive position. Today, SLBPA has been replaced by the Sussex Area Chamber of Commerce.
His leadership qualities were recognized as he was made a member of the Hamilton School District Strategic Planning Committee serving with Administrator Kathy Cook and Hamilton School Board President Jerry Schmitz.
His wife, Barbara, remembers the exact day that the Grieb family moved to Sussex on a gravel paved road in the Steir Subdivision. It was Aug. 20, 1957, Barbara’s birthday.
Oscar is survived by Barbara, and children, Allen, Rosemarie, Mary (Al) Fannin and Linda (Russell) Miller. He has one grandchild, Heather (Steve) Nowakowski. Also surviving are a brother, James (Marcie) Grieb, and sister Barbara Packard among surviving friends and relatives.
He was preceded in death by daughter Annette, brother Roger and his wife Marilyn, and brother-in-law Richard Packard.
Visitation and a memorial Mass were held Monday evening at St. James Catholic Church, burial was at St. James.