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Grimshaw family
Family of the late W.R. Grimshaw came to Claremore for the 70th anniversary of theWill Rogers Memorial Museum opening . Great-grandaughter Bonnie Grimshaw Pataonai came from Las Vegas to join grandchildren Eric Grimshaw and Kristen Grimshaw of Tulsa.

W.R. Grimshaw Company of Tulsa was chosen as contractor for the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore and in less than a year after ground was broken April 21, 1938 — on November 4 — the museum was dedicated.

A lesson on Oklahoma history for builder’s great-granddaughter

Bonnie Grimshaw, daughter of Ray Grimshaw, well-known Tulsa builder, grew up in the construction business and often heard stories about her great-grandfather and “his” buildings.

When she came to the Will Rogers Memorial on a field trip with her Jenks East Elementary third grade, she got two Oklahoma history lessons. She learned not only about Will Rogers’ place in Oklahoma history, but also about her great-grandfather’s place in the history of the Memorial to Will.

“Oh my gosh, that’s my name,” she said she called out to her classmates when she saw an April 1938 photo of the groundbreaking of the Will Rogers Memorial. And there in that photo was her great-grandfather, W.R. Grimshaw, who had the contract for construction of the building.

“I bought all my class over to look at the picture,” she said excitedly from her Las Vegas home, where she teaches third grade. As she toured the museum that day, she also saw the building dedication plaque with the Grimshaw name.

Bonnie said growing up she heard a lot about buildings and projects of her great-grandfather. Before she came to the museum that day her mother told her W.R. Grimshaw had built the building she was visiting.

“I thought, OK sure. It’s another one of these buildings,” she said.
It was that visit that gave her a greater appreciation for her father’s place in building business history and a lesson about Will Rogers she never forgot.

Bonnie’s father, who died earlier this year, worked for his grandfather’s company during his school years. He was proud of his grandfather’s role in building Tulsa and Oklahoma, according to his wife, Jane.

In 1977 Ray Grimshaw founded his own company, Grimshaw Homes, named Number 1 builder in Broken Arrow five consecutive years from 1999 to 2003.

Eric Grimshaw, another grandson, knew of his grandfather’s involvement in the museum construction and visited as a child and as an adult.

He has an autographed photo of Will Rogers and Waite Phillips that was among his grandfather’s possession, handed down to Ray’s mother and later given him.

Interested in keeping the family history, Eric thinks his grandfather knew Will Rogers before his death, perhaps through the Phillips connection.

Bonnie Grimshaw Pataonai and her new husband, came from Las Vegas the family for the Will Rogers Days celebration. Eric and his daughter, Paige, and his sister, Kristin, joined the family gathering.