William Jason GROVES

GROVES, ROMPF, LAMONT, TREICK, LOCKHART

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:43

August 2, 1946 --- October 18, 2021

William Jason Groves of Rapid City, South Dakota, died on Monday, October 18, 2021 following a brief battle with cancer. Jason passed away peacefully, surrounded by his wife and three daughters, in his Fountain Hills, Arizona home.

Born on August 2, 1946 in Webster City, Iowa, Jason grew up in Eagle Grove, Iowa. As a child, he loved camping with his Boy Scout troop, swimming at the city pool and waterskiing on Clear Lake, where his family had a cabin. He was a member of the track and basketball teams.

Jason attended the University of Iowa and the University of South Dakota. At USD, he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and majored in History. A favorite hobby was creating pen and ink drawings of nature. While at USD he met the love of his life, Betsy Lamont. The two married in July 1969 and moved to Rapid City in 1976.

In 1968, on the first day of a summer job laying rebar for the highway near Kadoka, S.D., there was an accident and Jason and several other workers were electrocuted. As a result, Jason lost his right hand and spent three months recovering at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. This experience gave him empathy for the injured workers he helped throughout his life.

Jason earned his B.A. at the University of South Dakota in 1969 and his J.D. from the University of Tulsa in 1973. He was first admitted to the State Bar of South Dakota in 1973; the U.S. District Court, District of South Dakota in 1975; and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eight Circuit in 1980.

For more than 41 years, Jason was a leading advocate for injured workers in South Dakota. He had more than 24 appeals to the South Dakota Supreme Court. Jason successfully challenged how insurance companies misapplied workers' compensation law to the harm of injured workers. Through his tireless efforts, hundreds of injured workers received the relief they were entitled as prescribed by the South Dakota Legislature. Jason was the voice who demanded accountability from workers' compensation carriers. He often stood alone, but was repeatedly vindicated by decisions in favor of his clients. Early in his career, he served as a South Dakota Assistant Attorney General.

Jason had great integrity and believed in fairness and equity. A frequent writer of Letters to the Editor, he always considered how decisions would impact others.

Health and fitness were important to Jason. He loved to ski and was an avid cyclist. He logged thousands of miles cycling in South Dakota and Colorado. He rode Ride the Rockies multiple times and summited many of Colorado's highest mountain passes.

Jason served on several nonprofit boards including for South Dakota Public Broadcasting and most recently, the National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota. He was active in the Allied Arts Fund in Rapid City. He served on many professional committees and was an invited speaker by the South Dakota Trial Lawyers Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

Jason was inquisitive, a voracious reader and a life long learner. He and Betsy were world travelers, visiting destinations both on and off the beaten path including Alaska, India, France, Greece, Burma, Vietnam, the Galapagos Islands, Italy, Chile, Indonesia, Fiji and Turkey. He loved to take photographs and recently took photos in Cuba as part of an educational tour.

Above all, the joy of Jason's life was the family that he and Betsy built. His daughters remember fondly his booming laugh, kindness, wise advice, and music playing on the record player. They remember hours long “photo safaris” around the Black Hills for the perfect shot, hikes on Iron Mountain, and meeting up with him for picnics in the Hills, where he would cycle to the picnic spot and back, often more than one hundred miles round trip. His grandchildren will miss their Papa's shoulder rides, tickles, and rides on Sheridan Lake in his sailboat, Argo. He never missed a grandchild's birthday party.

Jason's family will always remember “Captain Papa” on Argo. Arm on the tiller, hand on the line, hat perched on his head, he would laugh loudly as the wind would pick up, tilt the boat and spray water on everyone aboard.

Jason was preceded in death by his mother, Marjorie Lela Rompf Groves of Eagle Grove, Iowa; father, Harlan Max Groves of Eagle Grove, Iowa; four beloved cats and two dogs.

Grateful for having shared his life are his wife of 52 years, Elizabeth “Betsy” (Lamont) Groves; three daughters: Ethnie (Kyle) Treick of Fort Collins, Colo.; Davina (Matthew) Lockhart of Laramie, Wyo.; and Brie Groves of Rapid City, S.D.; five grandchildren: Luke and William Treick of Fort Collins, Colo., Dorian Lockhart of Conroe, Tex., and Stella and Harriet Lockhart of Laramie, Wyo.; one brother, Richard Groves of Sun City, Ariz.; and one sister, Barbara Groves of DeKalb, Ill.

A celebration of life will be held at 10:00 am on November 20, 2021 at the First United Methodist Church in Rapid City, S.D., followed by a burial at Mountain View Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Jason's honor to the National Music Museum are appreciated.

Rapid City Journal --- Rapid City, South Dakota
November 12, 2021