George F. Limes Sr.

1927 - 2011

(News article) GRAND RAPIDS, Ohio -- A former trustee of Grand Rapids Township who was an electrician and owner of a local business, George F. Limes, Sr. died Tuesday at home. He was 84.

He had a lung condition that progressively worsened, his daughter Pat Breece said.

He was an owner and former president of L-B Electric Co. in Grand Rapids, which specializes in electric service for grain elevators.

He co-founded the business in 1976 with Wilbur Box. He bought out Mr. Box's interest several years later and hired his son, George, Jr., and son-in-law Ray Thomas.

He turned the day-to-day running of L-B Electric over to his son and son-in-law. But he helped the company find new work and maintained good relations with those who had been loyal to L-B. Working with grain elevators was a mainstay of the business. When an elevator had an electrical problem at harvest, he made sure his workers dropped everything else and took care of it.

"He kept the customers we had forever and we knew personally," Mr. Thomas said. "He was a good talker and listened." Mr. Limes son, George Jr., died in 2009.

Mr. Limes was elected a Grand Rapids Township trustee and served in the 2000s. "Dad was really good about getting involved with things around town," his daughter Pat said.

He was a former volunteer firefighter.

Born in Van Wert, Ohio, he was a stateside veteran of the Navy and, afterward, worked for the former Rossford Ordnance Depot.

He contracted polio in the early 1950s. After three years and intense physical rehabilitation, he was back on his feet and at work.

He followed auto racing. He fished in Lake Erie. He hunted deer around northwest Ohio; hunted boar in southern Ohio, and antelope in Wyoming and donated the meat to churches, his daughter said.

He was a member of the American Legion. He was a member of Ohio Lodge, F&AM, and of Trivore Chapter, Eastern Star.

Surviving are his wife, Pauline, whom he married Aug. 20, 1949; daughters, Patricia Breece and Paula Thomas; sister, Leotta Ballard; brother, Howard; eight grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Thursday in the Wright-Habegger Funeral Home, Grand Rapids, with a Masonic service at 7:30 p.m. in the mortuary.

The family suggests tributes to Calvary United Methodist Church; Bridge Home Health & Hospice, Bowling Green, or Calvary United Methodist Church, Grand Rapids, where he was a member.