John Gribi

John Frederick Gribi II, 81, died quietly in his sleep Thursday, November 3, 2022.

John was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 29, 1941, one of two children. He was preceded in death by his father Samuel Gottlieb Gribi II and his mother Marylee Johnson Gribi and his sister Mary Jo Pettit.

As a child John traveled all over the world since his father was in the Air Force.  While living in Germany after World War II during the German Occupation, John witnessed the Nuremburg Trials in person.  John met Sherman Billingsley in person at the Stork Club in New York City and with Saudi Arabian royalty while his father was stationed in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

In 1954 John accompanied his family to Ft. Worth Texas which became home. John attended R. L. Paschal High School and graduated from Texas Christian University with an MBA.  John was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity and was initiated at the National Headquarters Leadership School in Evanston Illinois.

After graduation, John went to work for Price Waterhouse in Ft. Worth.  In 1967, John moved to Dallas Texas and went to work for Texas Instruments, Inc. as an internal auditor.  John remained with Texas Instruments for almost 15 years in a variety of expanding financial and information management system positions.

In 1982 John was the 15th employee to join Compaq Computer Corporation as Senior Vice-President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer in April of 1982.  John was responsible for the infrastructure to manage the explosive growth that would be experienced over the next few years.  John retired in 1991 when Compaq had achieved sales of over $4 billion and was operating in 42 countries. While John was Senior Vice-President and CFO, Compaq never experienced any control or financial management problems.  John took the company public in December of 1983 and during his nine years with Compaq, he raised over $500 million on Wall Street to fund Compaq’s explosive growth.

In 1991, John retired from Compaq to Wolfeboro New Hampshire.  Although John continued as a consultant for several years after retirement, John began to pursue his passion for skeet shooting and cooking.  In 2000, John moved to Corpus Christi Texas to continue his pursuit of cooking and added the sport of skeet shooting.  Jean Gibson became John’s wife in 2002 and made him the happiest man in the world.

Those who knew John understood that he was a man of uncompromising honesty and integrity.   John could light up a social event with a quick wit or some outlandish story, usually about himself.  Whenever asked, what would you differently in your life, he always replied “Nothing at all”.

And a little more…

As you know, John was a story-teller extraordinaire…and the same story was always a bit different each time he told it.  So, I created a Facebook page – John Gribi’s Life Celebration – so you could share your stories with others who knew and loved John.  Pictures are welcome.

Below is the link to John’s memorial Facebook page. If you have a Facebook account, please feel free to add your stories and pictures.  The page is set up with chapters most easily found under the Featured section of the page.  Please add your stories in the appropriate section.

If you don’t have a Facebook account, you can still click on this link to read all the current posts.  If you would like to comment, email (jgribi@stx.rr.com) or call me (361-563-3336) and I will add your story to the page.

(20+) John Gribi's Life Celebration | Facebook

Hope these posts brighten your day and bring back great memories of your times with John.

Best wishes, Jean Gribi