William B. Grosh, MD, 83

September 16, 2023

SIMPLY THE BEST: Dr. “Bill” Grosh Uplifted and Healed Many Throughout His Extraordinary Life of Service!

William “Bill” Benjamin Grosh, MD, 83, passed away peacefully on his birthday surrounded by family at Mt. Joy’s Hospice and Community Care on September 16, 2023.

Bill was an accomplished physician, pianist, community leader, author and avid sports fan. Most of all, his greatest achievement was as a good and loyal husband to his late wife Janet (Messner) Grosh and as a wonderful father to Jennifer Grosh, Holly (Grosh) Wenner and Stephen Grosh. He was simply the best!

Bill is also survived by his daughter-in-law Melissa B. Della Croce, DMD, son-in-law Brad deLeeuw, three grandchildren; Owen Wenner, Harrison Grosh, Olivia Grosh, numerous nieces and nephews, his brother Dr. Joseph Grosh, Jr., and his sister-in-law Carol Grosh, wife of brother Paul. He is preceded in death by his parents, late brother Paul R. Grosh, M.D., and niece Regina Grosh.

THE EARLY YEARS
Bill was born on September 16, 1940 at Lancaster General Hospital to the late Dr. and Mrs. Joseph W. Grosh and Mabelle (Stultz) Grosh of Lititz, PA. He was the loving brother to Joe and Paul.

He grew up in Lititz with his older brothers (later known as the Grosh boys) in a charming, brick house across from the iconic Lititz Square. On the first floor of their family home, their father ran a successful life-long medical practice that ignited his dream of becoming a doctor. As a small boy, Bill played doctor with his stuffed animals in his father’s office, while his father, his hero, his inspiration and mentor, treated patients.

The Grosh boys enjoyed singing in the Lititz Moravian Church Children’s Choir. Bill liked spending summer camp with both brothers at Camp Sunapee in NH. Bill loved playing sports and engaging in Camp activities. They looked forward to family vacations at the Jersey Shore. They frequented the Lobster House Restaurant which was a family favorite. Bill always ordered the freshest, two-pound lobster accompanied with the world-famous snapper soup.

HIS MUSIC and BEING A CLASSIC PIANIST
Bill had many talents and was a gifted musician. He understood musical theory which enabled him to play the guitar and piano for seven decades. He played the classics, as well as some hip music by Josh Groban and Melissa Manchester. When Bill played his treasured musical instruments, people listened due to his powerful, emotion-filled performances.

Bill was known for playing the grand piano whenever he dined at the exclusive River Café in New York City. His most memorable moment was playing the Steinway piano owned by Elvis Presley in Nashville. He said, “the experience was pretty cool.”

THOSE CHERISHED HIGH SCHOOL YEARS & MEETING THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE JANET
Bill relished his high school years at Warwick High School. He had a competitive nature playing high school tennis, and on weekends, had a penchant for racing and fixing cars with friends. His most prized possession was his beloved MG.

It was also at Warwick where he spotted Janet, a pretty, brunette girl in the cafeteria who became his beautiful wife of 62 years. To get her attention, he threw jello at her during lunch. Although Janet was not impressed with his actions in the beginning, he did end up winning her heart with persistence during a wonderful courtship. He went onto marry his high school sweetheart Janet (Messner) Grosh at the Rothsville St. Paul’s EC Church on August 20, 1961.

FOLLOWING HIS PASSION — MEDICINE
Bill graduated from Warwick High School in 1958 and Moravian College in 1964. He was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at Moravian College and member of the tennis team.

Growing up, Bill worked different jobs. In his late twenties, he applied to the Autonomous University of Guadalajara (UAG) after reading an article in Time Magazine citing the university as the oldest private medical school in Latin America. It had the largest American student population with over 13,000 American graduates. The UAG is still known as the premier medical institution outside the U.S. Bill was fierce by always pursing his dreams. He even earned a Beca Medical School Scholarship during his four years at UAG.

Going to medical school was a turning point in his life. Not only did he have to contend with being a husband and father, he had to learn day-to-day living in a foreign country. He had to keep his young family safe as well as learning a new language and culture.

Bill overcame many obstacles and hardships while living in Guadalajara. He spent many hours translating and reading his medical books in Spanish and English because his classes and exams were in Spanish.

The difference in attending the UAG School of Medicine as opposed to a U.S. Medical School in the 1970s, was the added responsibility of treating patients with supervision. He learned to question and elicit clinical information from people who only spoke Spanish. Bill often said, “he became a better doctor because of the real-time training he had in Mexico.”

He always conquered adversity by moving forward out of “sheer will.” His initial class size when he entered medical school in 1970 was approximately 2,000 students. When he graduated from the UAG in 1974, it dropped to 190 students.

In many ways, Bill grew up in Guadalajara. He grew as a father, as a spouse and most importantly, as a young doctor by visiting and caring for people in underserved communities in Mexico.

BACK TO THE USA
Bill returned to the U.S. to complete his internship and his three-year family practice residency training at Lancaster General Hospital in 1978. He distinguished himself as a hardworking, dedicated, empathetic young doctor. Upon completion of his residency training, he fulfilled his childhood dream of practicing and partnering with his father Joe in Lititz.

As a young boy, Bill would accompany his father on the football sidelines at Warwick High School. He carried his father’s medical bag during football games. Bill’s father became the team physician at Warwick High School in 1947 and later in life, Bill assisted him as a young, spirited physician.

Bill and his father developed practices and procedures which heralded the beginning of sports medicine in Lancaster County and beyond. Bill’s father served as his mentor in sports medicine, as his father Joe became the pioneer. In fact, the Warwick football field was named in his father’s honor. Together, treated diverse sports injuries for six decades.

Bill served as the team doctor for ELCO football beginning in 1978. In 1983, when Bill’s father retired from medicine, Bill became the Warwick Warriors’ team doctor. Bill worked double duty as the team doctor at ELCO and Warwick for many years. However, In the early 90’s, Bill left his position as the ELCO team physician so he could attend every football game at Warwick High School.

Bill merged his practice with Lititz Family Practice in 1993 and served as Deputy Coroner. He was affiliated with many hospitals including Lancaster General Hospital and the Heart of Lancaster Medical Center, now UPMC. He was an active member of the American Medical Association.

His legendary 30-year medical career ended in December 2007 when he retired from Lititz Family Practice and as the team physician at Warwick High School. It would be the first time in 60 years that a Grosh doctor would not be on the Warwick sidelines at Grosh Field.

In 2010, Bill came out of retirement to begin working at Heart and Family Health. He was so proud and happy to be practicing medicine again. He had five more wonderful years doing what he loved which was patient care. He finally retired for good in 2015 at the age of 75. Bill chose to end his career on his terms, having given the best of himself to every patient for four decades. As he put it so succinctly, “I leave my profession at the top of my game and I will miss my patients.”

LOVING MEDICINE AND HELPING PEOPLE
To Dr. Grosh, medicine was a labor of love. His patients were never numbers but people he cared about so much. His focus was not only on their physical health, but also on their emotional well-being.

The best accolade anyone can receive in their profession is that of the people they cared for. It was common for many long-time patients to express their gratitude and how Dr. Grosh helped to lift their spirits and heal them. Bill’s family often heard stories about a man who was and is loved and respected for his compassion and passion, for his medical knowledge, education and training, as he treated decades of patients and their families.

A FAMILY MAN
Bill grew up attending the Lititz Moravian Church with his family. He and his dear wife Janet were members of the Lititz Moravian Church. He volunteered often as an usher and was on the Board of Elders at the church for a few years.

Bill enjoyed domestic and international travel to Mexico, Canada and Europe with his family. Cape May and Sea Isle City, NJ were special places they frequented. While vacationing, he enjoyed running on the beach.

He was a watercolor artist, a historian and chess player. Bill was a patriot who loved this great country. During the pandemic, he stepped up and volunteered his time helping people recover after they received the Covid-19 vaccine. He provided patient care in the recovery room during the pandemic in Park City.

Bill’s children were often recipients of his speeches to inspire their life decisions as he focused on sharing his life lessons and strong opinions. He was the most loyal champion to his wife and children as they grew up, always beaming proudly about their accomplishments and savoring their achievements. Bill was a relentless believer in pushing yourself, overcoming adversity, following your dreams and having fun along the way.

SERVICES
Bill’s family members are deeply thankful to the many wonderful doctors, nurses and staff who took great care of him during his late stage and end-of-life care. Additionally, we want to thank everyone who has reached out to his family offering their condolences and memories of a man and doctor they respected and loved.

A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 3pm at Lititz Moravian Church, 8 Church Square, Lititz, PA 17543. Guests will be received prior to the service beginning at 1pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to either Hospice and Community Care, 685 Good Drive, Lancaster PA, 17604 or Pennsylvania SPCA Lancaster County, 848 South Prince Street Lancaster PA, 17603/ Website pspca.org/donations.