Former Walmart executive, philanthropist Jim von Gremp dies at 75

James Alan “Jim” von Gremp, a former Walmart executive, state legislator and philanthropist, died at his Bentonville home Oct. 12. He was 75. According to his obituary, he had cancer for five years.

Born in Jefferson City, Mo., on Oct. 21, 1949, to Mary and James Ellis von Gremp, Jim von Gremp was raised in Camdenton, Mo. Jim and his wife, Susan, graduated from the University of Missouri. After graduation, Jim von Gremp joined Walmart in Bentonville.

His roles included training, accounting, and public relations before he led the company’s charitable foundation. In this position, he helped launch Walmart’s national partnership with the Children’s Miracle Network — a collaboration that has since raised more than $1 billion to support children’s hospitals across the United States.

In 1988, he left Walmart to spend more time at home and started an accounting practice. He later joined A.G. Edwards & Sons. He also owned radio stations in Joplin, Mo., and worked in real estate development, including The Arbors.

In 1992, he was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives, representing Benton County from 1993 to 1996. He was also chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Commission and executive director of governmental relations for Gov. Mike Huckabee.

According to his obituary, von Gremp earned “a reputation as a thoughtful problem-solver and ‘Mr. Fix-It’ for state government.”

From 2005 to 2016, he was a member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees. In 2016, Gov. Asa Hutchinson named von Gremp to the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board. He also served on the boards of Arvest Bank, the Northwest Arkansas Charitable Foundation, and America’s Car-Mart, where he was chairman from August 2016 to August 2018.

Jim and his wife, Susan, recently gave $100,000 to the University of Arkansas for its Land of Opportunity Scholarship campaign. The gift established the Jim and Susan von Gremp Land of Opportunity Scholarship.

Von Gremp was a supporter of Rotary International, United Way of Benton County, and the Benton County Single Parent Scholarship Fund. He was a member of Fellowship Bible Church. His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Nov. 1 at Fellowship Bentonville, with a visitation preceding at 10 a.m.