The lives of Jo and Eugene Grimley, owners of the white historic house on S. Williamson Avenue, are almost too good to be true.

Eugene Grimley is a chemistry professor at Elon University, and his wife, Jo, was a chemistry professor at Elon University for many years before her retirement. Many would argue their commitment to the university, its students and its community is enough to bring a Fiske’s Guide to Colleges writer to tears.

History in the making

The pair’s family history with Elon began more than a century ago, when Jo’s grandfather worked as a contractor building West dormitory.

“When my dad was four years old, my granddad took him way up high on West dorm and let him lay the last brick,” Jo said.

As a side project, Jo’s grandfather built the house at 201 S. Williamson Ave. where he raised Jo’s father and aunt.

Jo’s father later attended and played football at Elon College, where he met Jo’s mother. After they married, the couple moved in across the street from the large, familiar, white home where Jo’s aunt still lived. The house now belongs to Jo and Eugene.

“I spent lots of time here,” Jo said. “I sat out on that side porch licking chocolate ice cream out of bowls. I spent as much time in this house as I did in my own.”

“That’s what it’s about,” Eugene said. “A lot of the things here [Jo] saved from her family and youth and so on. It all means something. It connects you with the people and the values. It’s a rich place to live. It’s a wonderful place to live.”

Eugene and Jo met at Michigan State University while studying chemistry and physics, respectively, in graduate school.  They then spent 17 years teaching at Mississippi State University before deciding to move to Elon in 1987.

“We are not Mississippians,” Eugene said. “I’m from New Jersey and she’s from North Carolina, and that’s not Mississippi. In Mississippi you don’t see colors of leaves; they just die.”

Both of the Grimleys continually express how amazing it is to be so close to relatives and so close to immediate family – literally.

The Grimleys are not only pleased with the area they live in and their family’s history in the area but with the interior aesthetics of their home as well.

“It’s comfortable,” Eugene said. “It feels like a glove or shoe that you’ve worn. It doesn’t feel big at all.”

Comfortable seems to be the perfect word for the home. Each item of furniture has a story.  There are quilts and stained glass that Jo made all around, pots their son crafted and a collection of pottery covering their living room’s white built-in shelves.

A family affair

Along with connections to the past, the Grimleys are able to stay connected to the younger generations of their family as well. While one of their daughters lives in Georgia and another in Florida, their son and his wife, both Elon graduates, live just across the street with their two sons.

[quote]It all means something. It connects you with the people and the values. It’s a rich place to live. It’s a wonderful place to live. --Eugene Grimley[/quote]

The Grimleys’ large homey abode, full of history and extra bedrooms, unsurprisingly tends to be the hosting spot for holiday family gatherings.

In the front few rooms, there is a rocking horse for their grandson to play on and a small desk at which he can draw or write. There are photos and paintings of family in each room and a large pile of toys in the living room, which is secondarily — or perhaps primarily — dubbed their grandson’s playroom.

Included in this pile of toys are a coffee maker at which you can place an order with the young Grimley and a cardboard box cut to look like a TV.

“He gets in it and he’ll tell you the weather,” Eugene said.

As a proud grandfather, Eugene said the 5-year-old “doesn’t miss a trick” and has an impressive vocabulary.

“We’ll see if he goes to Elon,” Eugene said with a smile.

Although all of their children are fully grown, Eugene and Jo are not alone in the house. They have a white cat and a bouncy 27-pound golden doodle puppy, Zeb, who is well known and adored by students around campus.

Phoenix pride

The couple began their lives at Elon during an exciting time. According to Eugene, the chemistry department was just beginning so they started from the bottom up.

Eugene and Jo said they are still excited about the direction of their beloved department. Eugene talked happily about his research with undergraduates working with bees and determining the chemical fingerprint of each type of honey.

“It’s very interesting. And if all goes bad, you get to eat the honey,” he said.

The pair isn’t just excited about the sciences at Elon, but rather everything happening in the community.

“The programs on campus are such high quality — the lectures that are brought on campus, the convocations, particularly the music and the teachers are just fabulous,” Eugene said.

Both he and Jo regularly attend these events, especially those involving their own students.

“I teach Science Without Borders so many of my students are majors other than science,” Eugene said. “Many of them are in theater, musical theater, things of this type.  I always tell the class, ‘Whatever you’re doing — if you’re pitching baseball or playing football — let me know what you’re doing. I want to come watch you in your realm.’”

Mixed feelings on an evolving campus

The couple said they frequently make use of the nearby Station at Mill Point.

“We can walk, or get on the bikes, or walk the dog, or [our grandsons can] ride in little cars and bikes around on the sidewalks,” Jo said. “We probably walk around there at least once a day.”

However, they did have concerns when the Station was being built so close to their home.

“Students that move into these houses move in there for freedom and freedom to do what they want to,” Eugene said. “Certainly on Thursday nights and some other times, too. We witness some of that.”

Still, the Grimleys are happy to have student neighbors and are now content with the new student community.

“The Station — the people that live there — are [in] singles, and they are closer to graduation, and they’re not there to have the kind of freedom for partying or that kind of social freedom,” Eugene said. “They’re great neighbors. We love having [the Station] next door.”

Surrounded by student-rented houses, though, things have not always gone so smoothly on other sides.

“I noticed this year that the town has looked worse in terms of trashy yards than I have ever seen it,” Jo said.

President Leo Lambert sent out an email earlier in the year asking students to clean up their yards, though this seemed to have little effect.

[box]Meet Eugene Grimley

What: Tectonic Plates: Alamance County’s Science Café Where: Fat Frogg When: Second Tuesday of every month 7 p.m.[/box]

“There are areas that I used to walk with the dog all the time that I simply don’t want to walk because I don’t want to see the mess,” Jo said.

Eugene summarizes the couple’s main concerns as “disrespect for property and students on this busy road.” They often see cars pulled over by the police on weekends, sometimes two at once, likely for drunk driving.

With regard to a history of disrespect for property, Jo has a disheartening story.

“We had a little Christmas tree in the backyard, just for the two of us to see,” she said. “[Eugene] put it up on Friday evening, put the lights on it, and Saturday morning we got up and there were beer cans all around it. And the lights hadn’t been just unplugged, the line had been torn. Fortunately no one had been electrocuted.”

The couple said they would probably put up a few more trees if they decide to retire here, which they hope to, in order to prevent people from traveling through the yard.

“I’ve found things in the bushes over there that we don’t need to print — cell phones, beer cans, everything,” Eugene said.

Preparing for the future

As for long-term plans for the historic house, Eugene is willing to let his home rest in the hands of the university he loves.

“Eventually I’m sure the university would like to have it, and we’d like them to have it,” he said. “They could maybe use it as a faculty union. Faculty could use a meeting place. We don’t have one. I can’t go into Colonnades with guests and have a beer. It’s just a professional world versus a student world.”

They said they also know their home may be torn down if Elon buys it but said they are understanding of Elon’s obligation to look toward the future, something they have helped the university do in so many ways during their 25 years here.