WILMINGTON — Barbara Jayne ‘Beejay’ Grob passed away on Saturday, February 1, at her home in Wilmington. She was 66.
Born May 5, 1958 to Evelyn Grob and Edwin R. Grob in Pennsauken, NJ, she was an artist, writer, musician and film crew member.
After childhood and schooling in New Jersey and studies at the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial and the School Art League of Philadelphia, she moved to North Carolina to attend the University Of North Carolina at Wilmington on a Music Scholarship. While there, she served as editor-in-chief of the campus literary magazine, Atlantis, and sports editor of the campus weekly, Seahawk.
After college, she worked as a reporter/photographer for the State Port Pilot in Southport, NC, enjoyed a stint sailing on a tall ship, served several deckhand assignments and became part owner of a shrimp boat on Topsail Island. She eventually found her way into the Wilmington film industry, where she worked for over 28 years in the art department of many film television projects as a member of the IATSE Local 491 film worker’s union.
A notorious cat-lover, she was an avid supporter of Adopt An Angel and local pet rescue efforts. Beejay enjoyed writing poetry, and she published the collection Just off Wrightsville had work included in numerous anthologies, including Haiku 2021, The Weight of Motherhood and Remembering Woody Guthrie.
She is survived by her longtime companion, Michael Marcelli, as well as her sister, Evelyn McKnight, her brother, Edwin Grob, Jr., a niece, Traci Roper, and three nephews, Scot W. Grob, Trevor Roper and Edwin Grob III. She will be missed by all who knew her.
Please leave memories and condolences for Beejay’s family here.
