Curt Gridley, the co-owner of downtown maker space Groover Labs who stood out as a problem solver, died of complications from pancreatic cancer on Saturday at the age of 65.
His wife, Tracy Hoover, co-owner of Groover Labs, wrote in Gridley's obituary, "The family often joked that if the ship is sinking, you need someone else. But if you get to the desert island and big problems need to be solved, Curt is the one you want on your team."
In 2019, Gridley and Hoover established their entrepreneurial co-working and maker space on St. Francis Street. It's called "Groover Labs" — a mashup of their names. Gridley, who was the lab's executive director, helped with early-stage product development assistance for Wichita-area startups.
"What he really excelled at and thrived on was solving engineering problems in practical and creative ways," Hoover wrote. “(He's) my Mr. Better-Faster-Cheaper.”
In addition to opening Groover Labs, Gridley and Hoover continued to volunteer their time to the startup community.
Mark Janzen, an entrepreneur and startup investor, said he moved from Seattle to Wichita because of Gridley and Hoover, saying he was inspired because the couple had given a tremendous gift to the city's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
"I've never seen anything quite like it," Janzen said. "I was so inspired I bought a condo in Old Town so I could be close to it."
On most days, Janzen said he works out of the space.
"It's like getting to work in Thomas Edison's lab," he said. "You didn't quite know what Thomas Edison was building back there, but you knew it was cool. That's how I thought of Curt — I thought of him like Thomas Edison, like an inventor, a super-smart person."
Janzen said Gridley, although "very exacting" in his standards, was extremely benevolent to Wichita.
Parker McConachie, the communications manager at Groover Labs, said Gridley was inspirational.
"He and Tracy's vision for Wichita is beyond my imagination," he said.
Those close to him say Gridley wanted to help as many startups as he could, building a bridge to many in the area. For some, he helped brainstorm prototype ideas.
"Our entire team, including myself, looked up to Curt both from a technical and personal viewpoint," said Clint Brauer, the owner of Cheney-based startup GreenField Robotics. "He is missed daily."
Gridley grew up in Beloit and earned mathematics and philosophy degrees at Wichita State University, then a master's in mathematics from Dartmouth College.
He became a software engineer, rewriting software and increasing its performance. He also taught himself computer hardware design and engineering. He founded his first startup, Amber Wave Systems, in 1994.
"There he developed a low-cost ethernet switch at a time when the internet was just taking off and switches were very expensive," Hoover wrote. "He was also willing to take bold risks, reasoning that if it didn’t work out, he would have learned a lot."
U.S. Robotics purchased Amber Wave in 1996. Soon after, Gridley and Hoover started the Gridley Family Foundation to make philanthropic contributions both locally and nationally. The foundation's first major gift was to the WSU Fairmount College of Liberal Arts, establishing the endowed Curtis D. Gridley Professorship in the History and Philosophy of Science.
Gridley and Hoover have two adult children, Henry and Fiona.
In addition to problem solving, Gridley was adept at guitar playing, woodworking, aviation, printmaking and baking.
"He was brilliant, gentle, imaginative, hard-working, hilarious, contrary and had very high standards," Hoover wrote. "He saw the world in a fundamentally different way than most people, which was certainly a gift, but one that he also struggled with. He always seemed to be the lone voice of an alternate solution or view point, and struggled to persuade others of the rightness of his views."
A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Groover Labs, 334 N. St. Francis. The family asks memorial donations be made to Groover Labs or the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, Missouri.
