The entire Grieve Corporation family mourns the loss of its longtime president, P.J. “Pat” Calabrese, who died on February 17, 2018, in Lake Forest, Illinois, at the age of 90. Pat was the president of Grieve, a world leader in industrial ovens and furnaces, from 1958 until his retirement in 2008. He worked closely with the company’s founder, Price Grieve. Pat’s son Frank is currently the VP of sales and marketing, while Price’s son Doug is the president and CEO of the company founded by Mr. Grieve in 1949.
Pat was born in Chicago, graduated in 1949 from the University of Illinois with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and was awarded that school’s prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001. He also held a number of positions with various industrial, business, and Catholic charitable organizations.
Pat began his career at Grieve in 1958 as national sales manager, becoming president in 1968, and chairman in 2006 following the death of Mr. Grieve. During his tenure as president, the company grew steadily to become a global supplier of heat-processing equipment for virtually every industry in every industrialized country in the world.
