Virgil Kenneth Grotzky

Virgil K. Grotzky, a resident of Boulder, Colorado, since 1947, died March 27, 2011, at his home. He was 91.He was born in Imperial, Nebraska, on August 29, 1919, the youngest child of Louie Grotzky and Bertha Mabel (Walker) Grotzky. The family moved to Kansas shortly afterward. Virgil attended Dodge City High School, serving as senior class president. He graduated in 1938 and began working for the FW Woolworth Company. He was transferred as assistant manager to the Longmont, Colorado, store, where he met Anna Elizabeth Cohagan. They were married on February 17, 1944, at St. John the Baptist Church, shortly after Grotzky had completed his pilot's training with the US Army Air Corps. In June 1944, he was assigned to Kimbolton, England, where he piloted a B-17 (Flying Fortress) for 35 missions. He served as a member of the Air Force Reserve for 34 years and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.After World War II ended, the Grotzkys lived briefly in Canon City and Longmont before moving to Boulder to work and raise their family. Grotzky went into partnership with Reuben (Swede) Martinson and Leonard (Ole) Olson as plastering contractors. During these years, he and his father built the house where he and his wife lived for the rest of their lives. In 1956 he began doing research on atomic trigger systems for Dow Chemical and later Rockwell International at the Rocky Flats plant. He worked as an electron microscopist until his retirement in 1981. After retiring, the Grotzkys traveled extensively, including trips throughout the United States, to Russia, Europe, Japan, and Australia, and through the Panama Canal. He was a member of St. Thomas Aquinas parish.Virgil Grotzky was preceded in death by Anna Elizabeth Grotzky, his wife of 66 years, his parents, and his sisters Leona Philbrick of Hutchinson, Kansas, and Audrey Morris of Adelanto, California.He is survived by his children, Susan Grotzky, Janeane Golliher and her husband Doug, Kenneth Grotzky and his wife Sheila, Linda Orme and her husband Larry, and Marilyn Grotzky; seven grandsons, Christopher and Brenton Orme, Morgan, John, and Alexander Grotzky, and Michael and Justin Golliher; two great grandsons, Aaron Isaacs and Trevor Toft; his sister, Evelyn Davis of Dodge City, Kansas, his niece, Gloria Greer of Westminster, Colorado, and many other nieces and nephews. Visitation will be held from 5:00-6:30 PM on Thursday, March 31, with a rosary following, both at Ahlberg Funeral Chapel, Longmont. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Boulder at 10 AM on Friday, April 1. Interment will be at Green Mountain Cemetery in Boulder.