John is survived by his wife of 68 years, Elvira, his two daughters, Lisa Grohowski Cafferty & Cristina Grohowski (Norman Leibovitch), his two grandchildren, Ryan P. Cafferty & Caroline E. Cafferty, plus numerous nieces & nephews. John was preceded in death by his two sons, Anthony J. Grohowski & John J. Grohowski, Jr. plus eight brothers & two sisters.
“Ski,” as he was known to many of his friends, was born in Larksville, Pennsylvania in 1921. His parents John Joseph, Sr. & Adella Maria Pietrasczkiewicz emigrated from Poland in the early 1900s. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the US Navy working as a Hospital Corpsman with the rank of Chief Petty Officer. He was a proud WWII Veteran, having served on two submarines, USS Bashaw & USS Diablo, and retired from the Navy after 20 years of service.
Self-taught, highly driven & very resourceful, he found his niche in pharmaceutical sales. Working as the Government Sales Representative for Ciba Geigy Pharmaceuticals (Novartis) he called on military physicians both in the DC Metropolitan area & in Germany. He was awarded with many top sales awards over the years, of which he was very proud. After 25 years in his second career, he fully retired in 1985. In retirement he enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, reading, gardening, having spirited discussions with friends & honing his talent for knife sharpening. His favorite phrase was "use it or lose it", which is testament to how he lived his long, fruitful life. He was loved by his family who will miss his many stories, talents and resilience.
The family will greet friends Thursday, October 25, 5-8pm at Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home, 11800 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring, MD.
After a funeral mass at St. John the Evangelist Historic Church, 9700 Rosensteel Avenue, Silver Spring, MD, on Friday, October 26, at 10 am, his remains will reside at Arlington National Cemetery, at a later date. In lieu of flowers, consider sending donations to the woundedwarriorproject.org
