John Henry Thomas Gruehn

MORRISVILLE - John Henry Thomas (Tom) Gruehn, age 81, passed away peacefully at his home in Morrisville, NC on February 2, 2024.

Tom was born on July 2, 1942, in Wilmington, NC to the late Edward Karl Lawrence Gruehn and Beatrice Estelle Hill. The family, including his younger brother, Charles (Charlie) Edward Burtney Gruehn, moved to Greensboro around 1950 where Tom graduated from Greensboro High School. When it was time for college, he attended UNC Chapel Hill, where he discovered two things he would love for the rest of his life, UNC Sports and his wife of 58 years, Penn Lindsey Diehl (Gruehn). He met Penn on an elevator at the UNC Hospital where she was taking classes in Dentistry and it was love at first sight. He was an avid UNC sports lover, and was head cheerleader at UNC during his senior year when he graduated with a degree in Industrial Relations. For the rest of his life, no matter if the game was on TV or he attended in-person, he always had his headphones on listening to Woody Durham or his son’s play-by-play so as not to miss any action.

After their marriage, Penn gave birth to their daughter, Meredith Lindsey Gruehn (Blackwood), who was added to his top 3 things he loved most. Tom and Penn led very active lives, attending sporting events at UNC, sports car rallies in their Austin Healey, showing one of their prized Spaniels in competition and later, spending time with their daughter, her husband and their children, Lindsey and Austin. With the birth of grandchildren, Tom expanded his list of top favorite things to five. (The family still thinks that UNC was #1 on that list.)

During his life, Tom’s business career took the family to a number of different cities, spending time in Asheville as the youngest branch manager for Wachovia National Bank and later with their marketing department at their headquarters in Winston-Salem. They moved to Richmond VA, where Tom joined Central National Bank until moving into a sales position with WTVR-TV, also in Richmond. He returned to Greensboro a few years later where he took a position in the advertising department at WFMY-TV. Tom loved working directly with people and changed careers again, pivoting into a role as a financial adviser, where he could create long term relationships directly with his clients and serve their best interest until he retired. At that time, Tom and Penn settled in a little house in Browns Summit where they enjoyed the peacefulness of the countryside, but still had the challenges of maintaining a household.

In December of 2022, Tom and Penn moved to Cary so they could be closer to family in the Raleigh area. Among his hobbies, Tom took bartending classes, flying lessons, loved to ride roller coasters, was active in the Asheville Jaycees, worked in his yard, spent vacations with family at the beach, expanded his kite collection, played tennis and later, pickleball.

But life was not always rosy for Tom. In 1995, he was diagnosed with throat cancer which took a lot of wind from his sails. Extensive treatments put that cancer into remission, only to be diagnosed several years later with breast cancer and begin another battle that he eventually won. Even with these challenges, Tom was a constant, patient, and loyal companion to his wife, Penn.

Tom is preceded in death by his parents and his brother Charlie. Tom is survived by his wife, Penn, his daughter Meredith (husband Kevin), grandchildren, Lindsey and Austin (wife MacKenzie).

The family will hold a private celebration of life later this spring at the North Carolina coast, in accordance with Tom’s wishes. Everyone who remembers Tom is asked to celebrate the memory of his life in their own way.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be given to the American Cancer Society.

Arrangements are by Bryan-Lee Funeral Home of Raleigh. Online condolences may be made at www.bryan-leefuneralhome.com