[3] As an ensign, he was stationed at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia and was assigned to the USS Hollis.

[4] After military service, he then moved to Bartow, Florida and joined the law firm of Holland & Knight.

Grimes served as president of the Tenth Judicial Circuit Bar Association in 1966 and became a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1971.

Grimes was appointed to the Florida Second District Court of Appeal in October 1973, serving as chief judge from 1978 to 1980.

He became Chair of the Article V Task Force in 1994, and served as a faculty member of the Florida Judicial College.

Grimes married Faye Fulghum of Lakeland in 1951; they had four daughters (Gay, Mary June, Sue, and Sheri) and nine grandchildren.