[NU Sports] John DeGroat

Thu Oct 1 08:29:03 CDT 2009

Unlike most of the message board where everyone hides behind a moniker, the unique thing about this list is that everyone knows the names of the members.

My condolences to John and to his family as well.

GO CATS!
Cyril Ku

--- On Wed, 9/30/09, Roy Lamberton <rstetson at capps-assoc.com> wrote:

> From: Roy Lamberton <rstetson at capps-assoc.com>
> Subject: RE: [NU Sports] John DeGroat
> To: NEONRye at aol.com, nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
> Cc: ssacks71 at optonline.net, carl_degroat at msn.com
> Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 11:52 PM
> A sad day for all we Wildcat Fans...
> 
> John DeGroat was one of the "regulars" on this list (and
> maybe some others) and always rose to the defense of the
> kids who represent us on all of the fields of the Big 10.
> 
> He'll be missed. 
> 
> My condolences to all his family and as always we look
> forward to meeting again.
> 
> rsl
> 
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate & Unix Guru.
> Computer Applications & Support Associates
> -------------------- Also ----------------------
> Commissioner Delaware American Legion Baseball
> Retired Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician [R]
> Northwestern University - Speech 1974 - 
> Chi Phi: Pi 1974, KD 1968
> Publisher Emeritus: Purple Reign (Fox Sports)
> ==========  Go Cats -  Beat 'em All 
> ===========
> So...
>      How's that "hope" and "Change"
>      Working for ya?
> 
> Don't re-elect nobody, not even yo mama!
> ================================================
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
> [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com]
> On Behalf Of NEONRye at aol.com
> Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 11:47 AM
> To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
> Cc: ssacks71 at optonline.net;
> carl_degroat at msn.com
> Subject: [NU Sports] John DeGroat
> 
> Dear Fellow List Members,
>  
> I have some sad news to report.  Sandy Sacks, the
> "Godfather" of the  NU 
> Club of New York, and a former Wildcat lineman (in the
> 1950's), as well as my  
> good friend, and a longtime friend of John DeGroat,
> forwarded to me an  
> email from John's son, Carl, with John's obituary (which I
> am "pasting"  
> below).  I then wrote an email to Carl, expressing my
> sympathy and  informing him 
> of John's importance to the List and of my feelings about
> John's  passing.  
> Carl, in turn, graciously wrote back and provided details
> about  John's 
> untimely loss, which I will also share with all of you
> (below).  
>  
> John was someone who one minute could infuriate me with a
> stray comment in  
> an email, while then putting a smile on my face in the next
> paragraph of 
> the  same email.  From time to time he would
> email me privately (in response 
> to  one of my emails), suggesting (always in a
> friendly, mentoring kind of 
> manner)  that I read such and such book or article, if
> I hadn't already done 
> so.  He  will be sorely missed on this list--for
> his passionate devotion to 
> NU and  Wildcat sports (except for baseball--which as
> all of know--he wanted 
> dropped,  since he felt the University would never
> commit sufficient 
> resources to the team  to permit it to compete
> effectively), as well as for his 
> opinions on many  relevant issues, relevant and
> otherwise.  He was always a 
> straight  shooter, and you knew where he stood--and
> that is a trait that I 
> value very  much.   
>  
> Here's the Obituary:
>  
>  
> John A. DeGroat’s  Obituary 
> DeGroat, John Albert died September 25, 2009. 
> Born  December 18,  1931, he 
> was the husband of Gail B. DeGroat.  He is survived by
> two sons, Carl of  
> Purcellville, VA and Eric of Bromma, Sweden plus four
> grandsons, Axel, John  
> (Jack), Nick and August and two granddaughters, Jackie and
> Elsa.  He was 
> pre-deceased by his sister  Jacqueline DiPiero and his
> father and mother Dr. 
> Albert DeGroat and Andre`  DeGroat, all from the
> Detroit area. A graduate of 
> Northwestern University and the Wharton Graduate School, he
> spent his career 
> in various  corporate financial positions including,
> investor relations with 
> GTE and later  as a consultant in that field before
> retiring.  He served in 
> the US Army’s Counter  Intelligence Corps during the
> Cold War from 
> 1955-1957, much of that time with  the 66th CIC
> Detachment in Berlin, Germany. 
> He  thoroughly enjoyed traveling with his wife Gail as
> well as collecting 
> antiques.  Pheasant hunting and clay target shooting
> with friends were 
> favorite  pastimes.  He loved watching 
> Northwestern  University football and  
> basketball much to the chagrin of Gail, a Penn State
> graduate. He was also a 
> life long  fan of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit
> Lions. 
> A memorial  service will be held later. Donations may
> be made to the 
> Otterbein United  Methodist Church 647 Forge Road
> Carlisle, PA 17015 or to Hospice 
> of Central  Pennsylvania, PO Box  266 Enola, PA
> 17025 or to the 
> Northwestern University  Wild Cat Fund in
> Evanston,  Illinois. 
> ****************************************************************************
> *** 
> And here's the Email from Carl De Groat: 
> The passing of my dad was actually a
> surprise.   He complained of a sore 
> throat about a month ago and it just would not go 
> away.  It hurt so much, he 
> really was not eating and as a result, probably  got a
> little weak.  About 
> two weeks ago he fell reaching for the chain on  the
> ceiling fan and could 
> not get himself back up.  Gail had to call an 
> ambulance and they took him to 
> the hospital.  There were no injuries from  the
> fall, but he told them of 
> his sore throat.  He was very weak, so they 
> admitted him to the hospital.  No 
> one could figure out what was  wrong.  The
> doctors assumed it was just some 
> virus.  His tonsils were  swollen but that was
> it. I visited on the 16th or 
> 17th and he was in a lot of  pain and could barely
> speak.  The doctors all 
> assumed he would get  better.  Finally an ENT saw
> him and even he could not 
> figure out what was  up.  He did a CT Scan of his
> neck and still saw 
> nothing.  The doctor  ended up sedating my dad so
> he could go in and clean up my 
> dad's throat to get a  better look.  Turned out
> he had cancer of the lymph 
> nodes.  I was able  to see him on Thursday, but
> by then he could not speak.  I 
> spent the night  with him at the hospital and
> fortunately was with him when 
> died on Friday  afternoon. 
> The hospice people were wonderful while my dad was  in
> the hospital.  They 
> are the ones who instructed the doctors and nurses  on
> how to care for my 
> dad and to make sure he was comfortable.  They 
> checked in on him everyday and 
> answered all of Gail's questions.  The  hospice
> nurses explained what to 
> expect as he slipped away.  My dad donated  his
> body to the Hershey Medical 
> Center and the hospice folks even made all the 
> arrangements for the 
> transportation of my dad's body. 
> May he rest in peace, 
> Paul Levinson 
> 
> 
> 
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