Gordon Groth ’25

THE PASSING of Gordon Groth, in his sicep on.luly 5, 1992, at a convalescent home in Escondido, Calif., following several years of illness, took from 1925 an outstanding classmate and musician. Music was in Gordon's soulfrom boyhood, and through the violin he found his mode of expression. We remember him playing in our college groups; then later as firstchair, or concert master, in the University Orchestra, of which he was president and the Triangle Club Orchestra conductor.

Both he and our classmate the Late Robert M. Crawford, baritone, won coveted scholarships to Fontainebleau, France, for a year's study after graduation under some of the world's great musicians. While in France he had the rare privilege of playing with the worldfamous Fritz Kreisler and at later dates with Jascha Heifitz. On returning home, he and Bob Crawford organized and ran the Princeton Conservatory of Music. After some years of a successful busines career in Cleveland and Pittsburgh (participating in musical and community activities including service as an elder in the local Presbyterian Church), he moved to Santa Barbara as director of development at Westmount College. He played at dinner and nightclubs, and for a time with the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, as long as he was physically able. While in the retirement and nursing homes, he played his violin and the organ for the residents, often sitting in his wheelchair.

His wife of 64 years, Thelma, predeceased him in January. He is survived by a daughter, Mary Johnston, and three grandchildren.

The Class of 1925