Grover Harry Emrich

The car was unmistakable. A bearded man with white hair, a toolbox and rock hammer in the trunk, and a license plate that read ROC DOC. Grover Harry Emrich, age 91, passed away peacefully in his sleep on August 30, 2020. He is survived by a wife, Charlotte, 6 children, 8 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren. Grover was born in Englewood, NJ and raised in Leonia, a small town at the foot of the George Washington Bridge, just across the Hudson River from New York City. Grover was the only child of Grover Arthur Emrich and Florence Lovena Olson Emrich. Grover graduated from Leonia High School, and took a job in a nut and bolt factory for a year, before entering college at Franklin & Marshall over objections from his father, an electrician (IBEW, Local 1) who helped wire the Statue of Liberty. At F&M, he discovered his passion for science and geology and the knowledge that he needed to pursue further education. He married Barbara Gilbertson in 1952 and his first set of twins, Bob and Beth, came soon after. Grover worked at the local Acme Market in New Jersey and looked to continue his education. The family moved to Tallahassee, FL where Grover pursued his Master’s degree at Florida State University where he developed an interest in ground water. The family moved on to Champaign-Urbana, IL where Grover pursued his PhD in Hydrogeology at the University of Illinois, working under Burke Maxey. While in Illinois, their younger son, Tom, was born. While a student at Illinois, he worked at the Illinois Geologic Survey, mapping the hydrology of central Illinois. Grover’s original career path was to be through the oil and gas industry but got diverted to ground water in Florida. After graduating from Illinois (and before the first Earth Day), having decided a good location for raising their family, they moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, after being hired as the State Ground Water Geologist. He helped to begin a new section at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Sanitary Engineering that would eventually become a part of the then Department of Environmental Resources, Water Quality Management. The scientists and engineers that were tasked with finding sources of what caused pollution events, often with state police in tow for polluters who were less cooperative. His work has been published in journals, and was used expand the Clean Streams Law. As his marriage to Barbara Gilbertson ended, Grover moved to work at and later run a private engineering firm, A.W. Martin, Inc., taking him east to the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdale, where, in 1972, he married Charlotte Peterson, who he considered to be the best thing that ever happened to him. With Charlotte, he had three more children: Charlie, the oldest, followed by twins John and Craig. When the children were in middle school, the family relocated to Wayne, PA. As a person who would rather spend an afternoon banging on rocks at a highway road cut, Grover tried to instill a love of nature in his children, encouraging them in Boy Scouts and helping the younger 3 to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout in Troop 399, Montgomeryville, PA. Grover’s work transitioned to independent consulting. He was a longtime member of Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce, an active member of the United Church of Christ at Valley Forge, and a lifelong Republican until 2006. He was a licensed Professional Geologist in Pennsylvania, a member of the Hydrogeology Division, Geological Society of America, and a member of the Pennsylvania Council of Professional Geologists. He was a lover of Bach, Sweden, the Flyers, Van Gogh, Jesus Christ, and family. Later in life, Grover took a keen interest in genealogy, partly driven by a desire to have a larger family. He eventually wrapped in cousins many times removed. He also had a desire to know more about his mother, who was born in Brooklyn and moved while a toddler back to the family farm in Mardal, southern Sweden. Upon returning to the US at the age of 17, his mother spoke very little about her family and less about their traditions. In 2015, Grover was reconnected with the maternal side of his family in Åstorp, Skåne, Sweden and traveled to meet them for the first time, expanding the family once again. In lieu of flowers, charitable donations can be made to the King of Prussia Rotary Club Foundation, PO Box 60187, King of Prussia, PA 19406.