CHARLES ROBERT GROSSMAN October 22, 1918 - JANUARY 11, 2005
Charles R. Grossman, 86, died Tuesday, January 11, 2005, at Foxdale Village in State College.
He was born on October 22, 1918, in Elmhurst, New York, to the late Charles and Bertha (Kleiner) Grossman. He graduated from high school at the age of sixteen and joined the family business, the Charles Grossman Trucking Company in Brooklyn, N.Y. From 1941 to 1945 he served in the U.S. Air Force as a navigator and an airplane and mechanic instructor, retiring in subsequent years with the rank of Captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. During his later career, he was Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds for the Glen Cove Public Schools in Glen Cove, Long Island, until his retirement in 1984. He met his wife Ruth, who died in January 2004, in Chicago in the summer of 1942, while serving in the Air Force. They were married in St. Louis, Missouri, on January 8, 1944, traveling all over the South and Southwest during World War II, then settling in Queens, N.Y. to start their family. They were very happily married for 60 years. In 1996, Chuck and Ruth moved to Foxdale Village to be closer to their daughter, Kathryn.
Chuck was a tall man with a big heart, a great lover of children who, in turn, were instantly drawn to him. To his own children, he passed on his comical use of rudimentary German and his grandmother's German aphorisms, his love of nature and the outdoors, and his abiding spirituality. He relished growing (and sharing) tomatoes, entertaining family and friends, solving crossword puzzles, and playing bridge. His quiet sense of humor was witty and sharp, and he was known for his playful use of large words. He also had a special fondness for German Shepherd dogs. Above all, he was a humble man of deep faith, utterly committed to his church and to his family. He was active in his congregation for all of his adult life, serving as president of both Bethany Lutheran Church in Elmhurst and Trinity Lutheran Church in Glen Cove.
Surviving are his daughters, Kathryn M. Grossman and her husband, John Harwood, of State College and Lauren G. Schwiebert and her husband, Edward, of Brandon, Vermont; his grandchildren, Benjamin L. Harwood, of State College, Erik V. Schwiebert and his wife, Catherine, of Seattle, Washington, and Kea S. Magnuson and her husband, Sean, of New York City; three great-grandsons, Ethan Charles Magnuson, Hunter S. Magnuson, and Andrew K. Schwiebert; and numerous nieces and nephews in Indiana, New York, and Ohio. A funeral service was held on January 13, at the Eloise B. Kyper Funeral Home in State College. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 109 McAllister Street, State College, PA 16801.
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