Grimm Retires from Municipal Court after 31 Years of Public Employment

After 31 years in public government positions, former Tallmadge Mayor and  Chief Deputy Clerk Chris Grimm retired Thursday.

Grimm, 56, left the mayor's position April 5 last year to work at the court house. His retirement from the court house comes just less than a year after he took the job.

"I am kind of nervous about retiring, but I’m sure I’ll be busy for at least the first month," said Grimm. "I want to get involved in something in Tallmadge again, I really enjoy local government."

Although he said he is looking forward to retirement to spend more time with his grandchildren, family and wife Diane, Grimm said he will miss his coworkers.

"I really enjoy the people here. I will miss working with them and seeing them every day," he said.

Clerk Lisa Zeno Carano said she has enjoyed working with Grimm, but his retirement is bittersweet.

"I very happy for him, but I am sad to see him go. He brought a lot of humor to us on very stressful days and he made all of us smile," she said. "Chris had an opportunity to see another portion of government, the third branch, with us."

Assistant Chief Deputy Clerk Deanne Brown will replace Grimm on Monday and will make $74,000 annually, the same salary Grimm made, said Carano.

She added the assistant's position, which paid $49,089 annually, will not be immediately replaced.

"At some point [I'll need to] replace the position since it is supervisory and crucial to the criminal/traffic division," Carano said.

"Deanne brings a wealth of knowledge from the clerks office. She has been here 26 years and although I've only been here four years, it's clear Deanne makes decisions that benefit this office," she said. "She is very dedicated to the court, she’ll be a wonderful chief deputy clerk."

Brown will continue to do the duties of the assistant chief deputy clerk while accepting the new duties as chief deputy clerk.

"It will definitely be a challenge, but it's exciting and I've worked with an amazing team for a long time and I look forward to continuing to do good work with them," said Brown.