Keith Grover October 10, 2024

Keith Jay Grover

Keith passed from sleep and on to eternity on September 24, 2022, at the age of 77. He leaves behind his loving wife, C. Jean Grover; his children, Jake Penner (27), Andrew Penner (27), Priya Penner (24) and Sarah Grover (17) all of Rochester, NY; sister Jennet Grover of Santa Fe, NM; cousins and extended family. He is predeceased by his parents, Saul Grover and Phyllis Grover, also of Santa Fe.

Born in Yuba City, CA, Keith had an adventurous and full life, living in Dobbs Ferry, NY as a child, and eventually settling out West. He met his wife Jean in 2003, packed up and left his beloved Colorado, and relocated to Rochester. As his wife observes, “We really liked each other as human beings, and with all of his health issues later, that was the truth that endured: we loved but also genuinely liked each other.”

Keith had been a high school Varsity baseball and basketball athlete. He had been a classic 60s hippie, living in his van and traveling the country; after college, his first serious job was at the infamous Willowbrook State School for children with intellectual disabilities as an attendant; work he couldn’t stand for long due the wretched conditions (later brought to light in a documentary by Geraldo Rivera). Keith was profoundly affected by what he saw there, which made him a great disability rights supporter and ally.

He later got his certification to teach special ed, and did so for a while, then worked in sales for his father’s printing company; and even spent some years as a truck driver, traveling the entire 48 contiguous states in big rigs.

At the time he and Jean were married, he had returned to teaching. “I’m so happy to have been able to share my life with the guy who liked to crank up Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd, and occasionally would get out his guitar and play along,” she says. “He was my travel buddy who helped us establish Ocean City, MD as a family destination; the guy who told my kids he loved them; the guy who introduced the kids and me to the beauty of the West; with the guy who started off Jewish, was baptized in an Episcopal church, and looked for quiet, spiritual moments in everything.”

During his final years of illness, he was cared for with devotion by his wife and children at home.

Informal gatherings will replace traditional services, and the scattering of his ashes on Pike’s Peak in Colorado will be planned in the coming year.

To view his online memorial, please visit http://groverwebanddesign.com/remembering-Keith. Those wishing, may leave a remembrance there, or donate to the memorial fund for his daughter Sarah’s college education, at https://www.gofundme.com/keiths-memorial-college-fund-for-sarah.