Owner Clifford Grum Dies at 82

Clifford Grum, a prominent businessman and Thoroughbred owner, died Dec. 19 in Lufkin, Texas under the card of Hospice of the Pines. He was 82.

Grum once served as publisher of Fortune magazine and was an executive vice president of Time Inc.

Grum served as a board member and then chairman of First Bank and Trust East Texas in Diboll, Texas until his death. He was a former member of national boards including Time Inc., Tupperware Brands, Cooper Industries, Guaranty Federal, Premark International, and Trinity Industries.

“He was just a wonderful human being,” said Dr. J. David Richardson, a member of The Jockey Club and Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. “He loved horses and loved racing. The last time I saw him was at Churchill Downs around the end of the meet. He was game to the end.

“I know he was very active in his church and was a very generous person in a quiet way,” Richardson said. “In everything he did he was generous, but understated. He never wanted any credit.”

As an owner, Grum’s horses raced in the name of his first wife, Janelle, and later Mary. His only graded stakes win came in 1998 with Relic Reward in Oaklawn Park’s Exxex Handicap (gr. III). Mary Grum’s Athena won last year’s Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes at Laurel Park and this year’s Roxelana Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Grum had a long association with trainer Cecil Borel, and upon Borel’s retirement in 2014, Crum’s trainer had been Helen Pitts.

Memorial services will be held Dec. 23, at 11 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 607 Janeway Avenie, Lufitn, TX.

Honorary pallbearers will be the Directors of First Bank & Trust East Texas. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice in the Pines, 1504 W. Frank Avenue, Lufkin, TX 75904, the Presbyterian Early Learning Center, 607 Janeway Avenue, Lufkin, TX 75904, or the Medical Benevolence Foundation, 10707 Corporate Drive #220, Stafford, TX 77477.