DAVID GRAINGER

GRAINGER--David W. David W. Grainger, Senior Chairman of W.W. Grainger, Inc., passed away peacefully on January 9, 2025, at the age of 97. He was preceded by his beloved wife, Juli, and is survived by their three children, Susan L. Grainger, Thomas P. (Elizabeth) Grainger, and Nancy Burgermeister, and four grandchildren, James T. Grainger, Kristen E. Grainger-Kruse and Lauren L. Grainger-Peters; and Scott M.W. Burgermeister. David was born in 1927, the son of William Wallace "Bill" Grainger and Hally Ward Grainger, the same year his father started the family's business, W.W. Grainger, Inc. David grew up in Hinsdale, Illinois and attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, where he graduated in 1945. In 1945, David enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His education was interrupted by twelve months service in the Army Air Force as the manager of the Airborne Radar Tech School at Boca Raton Air Base. He was honorably discharged in 1947 and followed this with five years of service as a second lieutenant in the Army Air Force Reserve. His interest in flying expanded and he earned his own private pilot's license in 1947. David graduated from Wisconsin in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. There he fueled his life-long interest in electrical technology, efficiency, and application. Another very important consequence of attending The University of Wisconsin was meeting and marrying his college sweetheart, Juli Plant, a very attractive and talented 1948 graduate in Economics. Even though Juli had graduated two years before David was scheduled to graduate, he was able to convince her to stay in Madison until they were married in June 1949. After two years working for Franklin Electric, a Grainger supplier, in 1952 David joined W.W. Grainger, Inc., which his father had founded 25 years before, and where he spent his entire business career, as the Company grew to be a Fortune 500 leader in sales of maintenance, repair, and operating products worldwide. David served as Chairman and CEO of the Company from 1968 to 1997. During his leadership, the Company grew to have more than 15,000 employees and over $4 billion in annual revenues. David's tenure helped establish the Company's reputation for fair-dealing and customer service. David was known for both his innovative approaches and his keen attention to all aspects of the business. In 1949, the Grainger family established what would become The Grainger Foundation, a charitable non-profit organization. David headed the Foundation as President and then Chairman from 1979 until 2021. His talented wife, Juli, had a major involvement. Through the years, the Foundation and the Grainger family together have provided a high level of charitable grants, primarily in support of education, health care and many cultural institutions, focusing on programs and projects that "make a positive difference." In 2019, the Foundation made the most recent of several major donations to the University of Illinois, and its highly ranked engineering school was named the Grainger College of Engineering, in honor of William Wallace Grainger, who graduated from Illinois' electrical engineering program in 1919. Other similar donations have been to the University of Wisconsin. The Grainger Foundation has had long-standing broad relationships with numbers of other institutions, including The Museum of Science and Industry, Mayo Clinic, Rush University Medical Center, The Field Museum, The Chicago Symphony, The Art Institute of Chicago, and WTTW. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of W.W. Grainger, Inc. from 1953 to 2007, David was a member of the Boards of Baxter, The Northern Trust, and A.M. Castle. He also was a Life Trustee of the Museum of Science and Industry and of Rush University Medical Center. David and Juli, long-time residents of Winnetka and Lake Forest, loved to entertain and travel, whether by boat, plane or private railroad car. They also shared a love of golf, and enjoyed spending time at their vacation homes in California and Michigan. David leaves behind a rich legacy of principled leadership, a quietly generous record of philanthropy, devotion to family and friends, and an abiding curiosity throughout his life. David was a longtime member of the Kenilworth Union Church, Kenilworth, Illinois. Memorial services will be private with the family. A gift in memory of David Grainger may be made to the Kenilworth Union Church, 211 Kenilworth Avenue, Kenilworth, Illinois 60043.