Herman William Gruning

Herman William Gruning was born on August 23, 1917, in New York City, to Meta Schnaars and William August Gruning.  The family moved to South Orange in the early 1920s; his brother Bill was born in 1927.  Herman attended public schools, finishing at Columbia High School.  He went to Princeton University, where he majored in political science, graduating in 1938, followed by Columbia Law School, graduating in 1941 at the top of his class.  He married Jane Gedney in June of that year.  He joined the Coast Guard, which stationed him in Scotland.  After the war, the couple and their daughter Christina resided in Maplewood.  He practiced law in New York City with Sullivan and Cromwell, eventually leaving law practice to join the family business, Gruning’s, full time.  Two more children arrived, James in 1945 and David in 1951.

Herman managed Gruning’s until the business was sold in 1983, when he retired.  It is Gruning’s and its ice cream and candy with which he is now mainly identified; on a Facebook page devoted to memories of Gruning’s, the announcement of his death quickly elicited several hundred appreciative responses.

Both he and Jane enjoyed tennis and golf throughout their life together (he especially enjoyed the way Jane even well over seventy surprised other golfers with her utterly reliable drives), and they enjoyed travel, both to Florida for their own pleasure, and to visit and share vacations and holidays with family.  When Jane fell ill, Herman took on her daily care until her death in 2005.  He lived at the home on Clinton Avenue they bought in the 1940s until he died peacefully on May 24.

He is survived by his children Christina Hembree (Wylie), James Gruning (Dee), and David Gruning (Martha), by his grandchildren Marc Hembree, Amanda Hembree, Kristin Lindquist (Eric), Natalie Seeboth (Casey), John Gruning (Megan), and Jane Gruning, and by his great-grandchildren Georgia and Adele Seeboth, Samuel and Martin Lindquist, and Emma Gruning.

A memorial service will be held at Morrow Memorial United Methodist Church, 600 Ridgewood Road, Maplewood NJ 07040, on Saturday June 17 at 11:00 AM.   In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Morrow Church Chapel Garden.

Arrangements by The Jacob A. Holle Funeral Home, Maplewood.