Robert Dean Grove

Robert Grove (Bob) passed away on Sunday, December 10th, 2017 at his home in Ellicott City, Maryland at the age of 84. Bob was born on May 29th, 1933 in Pennsylvania to Carl Grove & Lillian Emerick Grove and grew up in the small town of Duncansville, PA. He was the oldest of 7 children. He enlisted out of high school in the Army and served in the Korean War as an electrical fire control specialist on the M51 75mm Skysweeper antiaircraft gun. Returning home, he enrolled at Penn State University and earned a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. He went on to work on radar and antenna design at Westinghouse where he worked his entire career.

He was the beloved husband of the late Doris A. Grove (1980); devoted father of Erich D. Grove ,Elsebeth C. Eaton, Kirsten S. Grove, and the late Jonathan C. Grove (2014); loving father-in-law of Jacqueline Grove, Tonja Cross, and Franz Szymanski; cherished grandfather of Colin Brown, Kirsten Eaton, Anastasia Franciotti, Ben Cross and Lance Cross; loving grandfather in law of Tiffany Brown, great grandfather of Parker Brown, dear brother of Gladys Goudy, Donna Grove, David Grove, Bryan Grove, Patricia Amigh and Sandra Grove.

In high school, he worked on a farm and did carpentry work. He continued to grow these two skills with a passion as an adult. He took the home he bought in Ellicott City and converted the attic into bedrooms, the garage/ breezeway into a breakfast and family room. He crafted furniture for the house; he was fond of the beds he built for the boys, and cabinets for the kitchen. He turned the majority of his back yard for many years into a vegetable and fruit garden (competing with his wife’s passion for flower gardening). Every year, he would get numerous packets of seeds from Burpees, start growing them in the basement, move them into the cold frame outside, and plant them in the spring. He showed his children how to work the garden, starting with the seeds, to planting, and harvesting. Later, he enjoyed planting blueberry bushes, having up to 20 at one time. He took great pride in providing his family with healthy food, grown in the back yard.

He enjoyed bowling and golf. He especially liked to show his adult children his “new golf swing” on a frequent basis. In his retirement years, he worked at Hobbits Glen Golf course, this way he could golf often and spend time with his golfing friends. After his retirement from Westinghouse, for many years, they held the Bob Grove Open golf tournament. He really enjoyed this time with his former co-workers. We will all miss him.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made to the Community Foundation of Howard County, attention: the Jon Grove Memorial Scholarship, Century Plaza, 10630 Little Patuxent Pkwy #315, Columbia, MD 21044.