Robert William GROOTERS

GROOTERS, DEWITT, DEN HARTOG, GOSLINGA, WACEK, NILSSON

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 12/30/2014 at 20:18:16

September 25, 1923 --- February 13, 2009

Robert William Grooters, 85, of Alton died Friday, February 13, at the Orange City Area Health System Hospital. Funeral service was Monday at 10 A.M. at the Alton Presbyterian Church in Alton. Ronald Brink officiated. Interment was at the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City.

Grooters was born September 25, 1923, at Boyden, the son of Albert Edward and Wilhelmina “Minnie” (De Witt) Grooters. His family lived at Boyden, Sheldon, Emmetsburg, Algona and Eagle Grove. After graduating from high school, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1941 to 1946. He served on the U.S.S. Hornet aircraft carrier, which was best known for its role as the carrier that launched Jimmy Doolittle’s planes, the first to bomb Japan. At the age of 18, he survived several hours in the ocean after the bombing and sinking of his ship in 1942. For his military service, he was awarded several medals, including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. On February 20, 1947, he married Henrietta A. Den Hartog at Orange City. They first lived at Orange City and Everly, but since 1951, they made their home in Alton. She died June 12, 1998, in Orange City. He was assistant manager at the Slagle Lumber Yard in Alton. He then worked with ready-mix concrete at Slagle’s and later was employed by Kepp Construction and Vogel and Vande Brake Paint Store, both in Orange City. In recent years, he was self-employed as a carpenter and painter. He was a member of the Alton Presbyterian Church, where he served as a deacon and an elder. He also belonged to the Blooming Prairie Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Veterans. He enjoyed woodworking and reading.

Survivors include his four children and their spouses, Jim and Shirley Grooters of Simi Valley, California, Vicki and Joe Wacek of Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, Dan and Lynn Grooters of Des Moines and Bonnie and Terry Goslinga, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; 15 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and a sister, and her husband, Carole and Karl-Heinz Nilsson. He was also preceded in death by a brother and his wife, James and Leona Grooters. Memorials may be directed to the Alton Chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous or the Alton Presbyterian Church.

Sioux Center News -- Sioux Center, Iowa
February 18, 2009