Timothy Grummon

Timothy “Tim” Walter Grummon was born on September 16, 1951, in Springfield, Illinois, to Richard R. and Evelyn W. Grummon. Prior to earning his master’s degree in linguistics from the University of Illinois in 1978, he studied in Ghana in 1972 and served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Ipamu, Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo) for two years. He was one of the over 100 Peace Corps volunteers held captive for three days by Idi Amin, the former military dictator of neighboring Uganda. Grummon also taught at the University of Isfahan in Iran, before fleeing during the 1978 Iranian Revolution.

Grummon was diagnosed with ARC (AIDS-Related Complex) in September 1985 after his return from teaching in Saudi Arabia through the Center for Applied Linguistics for several years. Following his diagnosis, he began attending art classes through the San Diego AIDS Art Project created and taught by art therapist Barbara Peabody–who was also a co-founder of the local Mothers of AIDS Patients (MAP) group and whose son Peter passed away from AIDS-related causes in 1984. It was through the San Diego AIDS Art Project that Grummon developed his artistic practice after little-to-no prior experience with the arts. 

Over the next nine years prior to his passing, Grummon taught art classes for people with AIDS through the San Diego Art Project and donated a large portion of his art work to AIDS-related fundraising projects. He served on boards and committees in support of the AIDS Foundation San Diego and AIDS Art Alive. Grummon also served as a board member for Lambda Archives of San Diego (formerly known as the Lesbian and Gay Historical Society and the Lesbian and Gay Archives) and designed the Archives’ original logo. Grummon is perhaps most widely known for his piece “Panels of Love” (1988), which features 11 paintings based on scriptural quotations chosen by his family and friends, organized into the shape of a cross.

Grummon died of AIDS-related pneumonia on May 6, 1994 at the University of California San Diego Medical Center. His remains were donated to medical science and his grave is located at the Stout Cemetery in Chatham, Illinois.