Obituary

Harry Steven Grisham, 71, of N. Chesterfield, VA went to be with his heavenly family on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Steve was born in Oak Ridge Tennessee and as a young boy enjoyed spending time on his granddaddy”™s farm in Smith County. He graduated from Oak Ridge High School where he played basketball and baseball. He continued his education graduating from his father”™s alma mater Tennessee Tech with a degree in History. He had a way of making history come to life with his stories. He especially loved Civil War history and his hero was Robert E. Lee. As a young man, he hiked often in his Smoky Mountains. He would spend weeks at a time there and that was always home. On a volleyball court in 1977, he met the love of his life, Julia and her young daughter, Keisha. The three of them walked down the aisle together a year later and became a family. Three more daughters, Virginia Kate, Stephannie Irene and Margaret (Chesia) Belle made the family complete.

Steve worked as a government contractor at TACOM in Warren, Michigan for five years before transferring to Ft. Lee, Virginia as an instructor at ALMAC. While there he achieved his Master of Science in Contract and Acquisition Management from Florida Institute of Technology. He taught contracting and environmental courses to soldiers and civilians around the world. He was a wonderful teacher and taught many Sunday School classes in the United Methodist Churches he attended.

His hobbies included reading, hiking and stamp collecting. Not only were the stamps beautiful, he could tell you the back stories which made them interesting for everyone. He was a fascinating storyteller, who had the ability to take the smallest of moments and turn them into the coolest stories. He loved his Dodgers baseball, the Detroit Red Wings, but his favorite thing to watch was the Vanderbilt Commodores beat the Tennessee Vols. Friends were always important to him and he was the life of the party. However, the most important part of his life was his family. You could often find him on the soccer field or basketball court coaching and cheering on his girls.

The family continued to grow with four son-in-laws Timothy Williams, Randy Melton Jr., Jeremiah Coyle Jr., and PJ Cunniff. He was the beloved “Pawder” to Hunter Blake, Kaitlyn Dare, Victoria Lee, Presley Wayne, Jeremiah “Tripp”, Kinsley Belle, Charlotte Katherine, and Knox Brady. These were his true pride and joy and he loved to listen to them play and spend time reading with them. He is also survived by many devoted cousins in God”™s Country Tennessee and friends he met along his travels. He is preceded in death by his grandparents Earnest Weldon and Daisy Belle Grisham and Harry Samuel and Ida Pearl Vaughan, parents Harry Garvin and Fannie Kate Grisham, and daughter Keisha Dare Williams.

Although he will be dearly missed by all, we find comfort knowing he is with his Lord and Savior. On the day before he passed, he read one of his granddaughters Psalm 23 and we all know that this is our temporary home and he “will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

A memorial service will be held at a later date. Please visit his obituary page at Morrissett.com for additional information and to share memories with the family.