Life of a Party A JOLLY GOOD TIME
BY JILL BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICK GOULD AND JULIE MILLER
Jollification! CELEBRATING THE
90TH BIRTHDAY OF BOB GROFF
Ten years ago, his 80th birthday party was cancelled – buried in Snowmageddon’s 20+ inches of snow. When Bob Groff hit the 90-year milestone this year, his family made certain that the redux would be a grand celebration of his many friendships gathered along the way. Fortunately, there wasn’t a flake of snow in sight!
“Joyful”
is an often-used adjective to describe Bob Groff. That may seem a bit contrary when one considers his profession as a thirdgeneration mortician, leading Groff Funeral & Cremation Services for four decades before retiring in 2000. Yet, it may be the ever-present reminder of life’s brevity that has prompted Bob’s appreciation for cultivating a life full of profound relationships and rich with curiosity, learning and meaning. It was only natural, then, that Bob’s 90th birthday celebration, which was held at the Lancaster Country Club, was epitomized by a room filled with 163 friends and family and a shared sense of joy among them that was as effervescent as the bubbles in the champagne. “I wanted to make up for the past
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failure of the 2010 cancelled party for all the people I meant to entertain at that point in my life,” Bob says with a laugh. It was worth waiting for. His encore party was billed as a “Jollification,” a term for festivity and merriment first used in the 19th century. As emcee and Bob’s best friend Wally Otto good-naturedly reminded the crowd, “You’re lucky you made the cut; you are one of Bob’s 200 closest friends.” Lucky, indeed, as guests were treated to classical music performances by the New York Philharmonic’s violist, Peter Kenote, and William Wright, musical director at Lancaster’s St. James Episcopal Church. A seated multi-course dinner was peppered with eloquent anecdotes that revealed some of the deepest friendships, community contributions and family guidance
that Bob has sculpted during his nine decades on the earth. Tom Ryan, the president and CEO of LancasterHistory, credited Bob with refocusing his organization’s mission to include “fun” in every aspect of its work. “Because of Bob’s requirement that his experience of serving on our volunteer board be fun, he changed my perspective,” said Tom. “We now include the importance of having fun in our planning and initiatives for our members, donors, volunteers and staff.” Tim Watt joined the blended Groff family as a five-year-old, when Bob married his mother, the late Ellen Arnold Groff, who was a dynamic patron of Lancaster’s arts for many years. In a passionate tribute, Tim thanked his stepfather for teaching him “how to say ‘yes’ to life.”
