Springfield resident Betty Grimes entered into government work when women in the workforce were limited to typing and clerk work, and she said she worked throughout her career to prove “women can do things, too.”

Grimes worked at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for 33 years, beginning in the 1960s after completing school at Wittenberg, Sinclair and Franklin, where she studied architecture and art. There, she worked as a draftsman, making books for reports for government officials to use, and then later as a graphic artist, a worker in the architecture department, and the chief executive of the audio visual outfit.

While there, she also built a program to support and advance women working in government, and she advocated for her female coworkers to have equal opportunities while she was going about her workday.

The Springfield News-Sun is highlighting a small portion of the extraordinary women leaders in our community this week. The series of profiles began Sunday.

There was a time in her government work tenure where she convinced her supervisors to consider her coworker for an open position operating a forklift, a position at the time considered “dangerous” for women. The coworker had experience while working with her husband to dig up earth, using large equipment and could operate a forklift with ease.

Grimes arranged for the supervisors to test her coworkers skills. When they witnessed the woman, short in stature, jump into the machinery with ease and operate the forklift without a hitch, their mouths fell open, Grimes said.

“And I was laughing. ‘Did you think she couldn’t do it?’ Women were short-changed for their skills,” she said.

Grimes is also the mind behind the restoration of the Gammon House, a historic site in the city, and she helped bring Juneteenth celebrations to the county.

In addition to serving on multiple planning boards, she also was in the Clark County Master Gardeners program for 20 years.

Grimes said she always needs to be moving, but lately, she’s been resting due to a bothersome knee. But that hasn’t stopped her from serving the community as a listening ear.

“If somebody just wants to call me and talk, well, call me and talk,” she said.

Grimes said she has a lot of pride in Springfield and Clark County. Many projects she dreamed of and began planning for decades back are coming to fruition: housing, community programming and more.

“And it’s so satisfying, to see seeds I and others planted becoming something,” she said.

The Springfield News-Sun is highlighting how women leaders are making an impact in the city this week. Sunday’s story featured three women, and the newspaper will feature another woman — Betty Grimes of Springfield, and Dr. Jo Alice Blondin of Clark State College — each day through Thursday, Sept. 15.

Sydney Dawes covers crime, courts and government in Clark County for the Springfield News-Sun.