Benjamin Anton Grota

Ben A. Grota passed away Sunday, February 10, 2002, at Wentworth Douglas Hospital. Born February 19, 1926, in Berlin, Wisconsin, he was the son of Ben S. Grota and Gelda (Minsky) Grota. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, having served during World War II. He received his BA degree from Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin, and his graduate degree in Leather Chemistry from the University of Cincinnati. Mr. Grota was well known throughout the leather tanning industry. He was a research chemist for the Fred Rueping Leather Company of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, manager of a pigskin tannery in Muscatine, Iowa, for Wolverine World Wide, vice president of Hebb Leather Company, and a director of Creese & Cook Company both of Danvers, Massachusetts. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Pension Plan for Massachusetts Leather Workers. As a life member of the American Leather Chemists Association, he served as president of that organization, as well as president of the Wisconsin Tanners Production Club. He also was a nationally and internationally known consultant to the tanning industry. Upon his retirement in 1979, Mr. Grota pursued many interests by doing volunteer work, including serving as a docent with the UNH Sea Grant Marine Program, a Channel 11 Auction office manager, a Better Business Bureau arbitrator, an IRS volunteer and as a Class Agent for Ripon College for over twenty years. In addition to his wife, Jane (Sizer) Grota, of 51 years, he is survived by three daughters and their families, Susan and Wilfred Beaulieu, Kathleen Corey and Michael Turner, and Patricia and John Jones, and two sisters, Barbara Hendrickson, and Anne Kiekhofer. A memorial service will be held at the Durham Community Church on Saturday, March 2, 2002, at 11:00am. A reception will follow in Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Durham Ambulance Corps, P.O. Box 4, Durham, N.H. 03824.