Meet The Grewals

By Kevin Czerwinski

Balpreet Grewal-Virk seems like your average suburban mom as she sits outside Starbucks in Montvale, nursing a coffee and holding a conversation on a variety of topics.

That she’s wearing a striped pullover and faded jeans with her hair pulled back in a casual manner only enhances the aforementioned image. While the 38-year-old Upper Saddle River resident certainly can play the part of that suburban mom, the conversation she’s having paints a far greater picture of who she is, where she comes from and where she is going.

Left: Balpreet with husband Yogi & their 3 children.

Right: Balpreet with father, Pritam. Grewal-Virk is one of Bergen County’s most influential movers and shakers. She’s an activist and a fundraising wiz, all of which isn’t all that surprising when you stop to consider the family from which she comes. The Grewals have been one of New Jersey’s most visible and well-known families during the last 50 years. Whether you’re talking about politics, philanthropic ventures or simply helping people in New Jersey, chances are that Grewal-Virk, her father Pritam Singh Grewal or her cousin Gurbir S. Grewal [the former Bergen County prosecutor and New Jersey Attorney General who is now the director of enforcement for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, also known as SEC] have been involved.

The Grewal family resume is nearly endless when describing the contributions that have been made both professionally and personally during the last half century. While each of those contributions is significant in its own way, it is clear that much of what the Grewals have accomplished has been the result of a love for Sikh religion, what it professes and the culture that accompanies it.

“Our religion plays a large part in the balance of who we are,” Grewal-Virk said. “It teaches us to be humble and grounded and help whoever we can. That is why Sikh men wear a turban. Because you should always be to point out a Sikh and ask for help. My father was the founder of the Sikh temple in Glen Rock because he understood the importance of religion and its foundation in our lives. We are taught to be humble and don’t ever think that you are anybody [important]. We are taught to just do good.”

Grewal-Virk spends nearly all of her time trying to adhere to that credo. She is the vice president of Community Outreach and Engagement in the Northern Region for Hackensack University Medical Center. Grewal-Virk works to educate the local community on a variety of subjects, ranging from disease prevention to COVID-19 to the harmful effects of vaping to informing the public about the opioid epidemic.

And that’s just her day job. She is also the New Jersey commissioner and co-chair of the Gateway Development Project, which is working toward creating critical rail infrastructure projects between Newark and Newark and Penn Station,

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which includes the construction of a new rail tunnel underneath the Hudson River.

Additionally, she is the vice chair of the Bergen County Democratic Committee, which means she spends her days and nights balancing her professional commitments with her family life, performing a juggling act that leaves her with little if any free time. Grewal-Virk is married with three young children – ages 7, 4 and 1 – and credits the support of her husband, Yogi, for much of her availability to do what she does.

Grewal-Virk’s ability to keep every together seems effortless but then again, she had an excellent teacher. Her father’s reputation as a tireless worker is well-known and it’s a trait she inherited. Growing up, she watched and marveled at all her father accomplished and learned from his successes and his failures. Pritam Grewal, who passed away at the age of 73 in 2020, came to America from India in 1972. He settled in Westwood and immediately went to work building a business and helping his community.

He was the founder and president of ADPP Enterprises, which remains family-owned and continues to operate a series of service stations in New Jersey. He spent time as a professor of mechanical engineering at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, was a prominent figure in support of the Democratic Party in New Jersey as well as being an ardent supporter of law enforcement.

When a 2012 accident left him a quadriplegic, he could have retired. Rather, he continued to work, spending his time helping others and making a difference in his community. The love and respect he had for the staff at Hackensack Medical Center for the care they provided him resulted in the creation of the Pritam Singh Grewal Good Samaritan Award – established in his honor – to “recognize staff of the medical center who demonstrate compassion and unselfishly help others.”

“All throughout my childhood, there were always blueprints on our table,” Grewal-Virk said. “He would show me, this is what we are building on Route 17 or this is what a gas pumps looks like. He was always sharing his plans with me. And when I did finally know what was going on, I would visit construction sites with him, travel with him, meet with town engineers or personal engineers for whatever project he was working on. It was usually two or three a year and almost every day after school I would sit with him learning.

“I was so close to my dad. He was also a professor and

The Grewal Family and Governor Phil Murphy with members of Hackensack University Medical Center, Joseph Sanzari, Robert Garrett, Ro Sorce & Mark Sparta at the unveiling of the Pritam S. Grewal Mural.

the most important thing in life to him was education, education, education. He always told me that it was the only thing that will help propel you in life. He believed in formal schooling, but also to have an understanding of the world. I was always keen on learning about whatever he was involved in. In large meetings, he would have me sit right next to him. Even when I was really young, I was always interested.”

Grewal suffered his injuries in a car accident on Route 17 in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. He had opened one of his service stations for first responders so they would be able to get to work after the storm had devastated large parts of the region. Grewal and Grewal-Virk were both there that day pumping gas but he left early.

Shortly thereafter Grewal-Virk received a phone call that her father had been in an accident.

“He dealt with that injury to the day he passed,” she said. “He still went to work every day and was active politically. Instead of him hosting events, though, I would host them. He would love it because I would have to speak. That’s how it really changed after he got injured. It was almost like a relay race. He passed the baton to me.”

Everyone does seem to call Grewal-Virk for one reason or another but that’s only because she is so effective at what she does. The regard for her and her father was never more evident than in June when a mural was unveiled at the Hackensack Medical Center memorializing Grewal on the one-year anniversary of his death. The ceremony was attended by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Gurbir Grewal. State Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker

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along with Congressman Josh Gottheimer were also invited. though, and has been on this journey ever since. The fresco, which was commissioned “I knew I wanted to do this,” Grimaldi said. “I had by the Grewal family and painted by an eye-opening moment at Ithaca where I realized I famed artist Cortney Wall, pays hom-wanted to develop age to Grewal and the selflessness he up-and-coming artdisplayed throughout his life. It features ists and write their his words, “Dream big, work hard, any-songs. I was in the thing is possible.”middle school band and played jazz “The mural was my idea,” Grewal-Virk band in high school. said. “I wanted to do something for him I started writing because he spent so much time at Hackwhen I was about 12 ensack. He was there sometimes for a as far as songs go. It month because of his issues.” wasn’t until Ithaca that I dove into The mural serves not only as a reminder making pop music.” of what Grewal meant to the community but also what Grewal-Virk has acGrimaldi said the complished, stepping out of her father’s end goal is get that shadow to create her own legacy. While one big song, turn there are times when she simply looks it into five or 10 like a suburban mom enjoying a quiet big songs and then cup of coffee, she continues to prove ride the momentum that success will bring. He loves working with young artists who have yet to have their big breakthrough, helping them lay the foundation for what can be a successful career. “There are so many talented people who don’t get the opportunity to do this,” said Grimaldi, who added that someday he would also like to teach. “I had no family in the business when I started. I kind of want to be the person I wish I had when I got into the music world. That, mixed with writing for the major players, is a cool balance. I want to write more hits and grow until this [his work] is super sustainable. This is not an easy thing at all.” It may not be “an easy thing” overall but right now everything for Grimaldi appears to be smooth like butter.

that she is so much more. Shivi Grewal at the unveiling of his father’s mural in June 2021.