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JAN GROOVER Obituary

GROOVER--Jan. With great sadness, Janet Borden, Inc. announces the death of Jan Groover on January 1, 2012 in France. Profoundly influential as a photographer, and a beloved teacher to many more, she will be missed. She was a great artist and a dear friend. We send our condolences to her siblings, and to her husband and true love, Bruce Boice.

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Published by New York Times on Jan. 7, 2012.

Memories and Condolences
for JAN GROOVER

20 Entries

Julie A. Gross

January 2, 2024

JAN WAS A DEAR FRIEND @ PRATT IN THE EARLY `60´S.. I have a wonderful portrait photo she took of me then! A talented amazing person!!

Julie A. Gross

April 10, 2021

Jan was a dear friend @ Pratt when we were students there: 1971-65. She shot a portrait of me, which I treasure...

Julie A. Griss

April 9, 2021

Jan was a wonderful soul! A dear friend @ Pratt from 1961-65. I have a treasured portrait shot she took of me in the mid to late ‘60’s! She is MISSED

Julie A. Gross

April 9, 2021

Was a good friend of dear Jan’s @ Pratt in the early to mid 1960’s. I have a treasured portrait she did of me...❤

Julie A. Gross

April 9, 2021

Jan was a dear friend during the 4 years of our time@ Pratt together: 1961-65. I have a treasured photo she took of me in the 1960’s! She was special!..and left this world wayyyyy too soon!❤

Debbie Bloom Hercky

January 31, 2012

Jan was my next door neighbor on Kenyon Avenue in Plainfield, older sister of my good friend, Tracie. She was my first babysitter. Once, when I asked her what smoking was like, she looked me in the eye, hesitated, then gave me a puff of her cigarette, saying, "I'm gonna let you try this so you'll never want to do it again." It worked.

Though I was a little intimidated by her as a kid, I grew up to realize what a clear-eyed, honest and warm person she was. I was so terribly saddened to hear of her death. My deepest condolences to Bruce, Tracie, and everyone who loved her.

Geoffrey MacLeod

January 30, 2012

Saddened by the passing of Jan Groover. Her direct approach to the visual experience was profound. She taught me more about looking at art than anyone had prior or since. What a loss for us all.

January 27, 2012

I loved her work, remember very well her exhibit in S.F. in 1980's.

Pat Golub Edelmann

January 13, 2012

Jan was a classmate in Plainfield High. I followed her career for years. I believe she was the most well known and accomplished member of our class. I remember her sitting always a few people behind me in home room. She came to one of our reunions loaded down with her camera and equipment. I wonder if she took any pictures then. I wrote to her a number of years ago in France to tell her how much I loved her work. She responded by sending me a wonderful signed photograph.

Toni Wynn

January 12, 2012

I knew her as Mrs. Boice, my Hubbard Junior High homeroom teacher. Her art room was the perfect space to begin the day -- her sardonic asides, respect for us kids, and the way she wielded that camera, shooting us in black in white -- she calmed us down, helped us see. Wonderful, talented woman.

January 11, 2012

I knew Jan in high school, class of 1961. We recently had a class reunion and a number of her classmates were aware of her reputation as a photography. I am also a member of the Plainfield Historical Society and we were planning on featuring her work and celebrating her during Women's History Month. My best wishes to her husband and her family.
Eloise Bryant Tinley

Betty Loggia

January 11, 2012

Jan grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, and that's how I remember her. We're proud to have had her as a classmate at Plainfield High School Class of '61.

Tracy Baronfeld Hoffman

January 10, 2012

This is a very sad day. I had the privilege of studying photography with Jan in the early 80's at Purchase College when she was hired by Jed Devine (another brilliant photographer) who encouraged her to print in platinum . Jan taught every student there to see and think in visual terms - "making space" as she used to say..She challenged us to create original work and find our voices. I will never forget Jan and am personally indebted to her for making me the artist I am today. May she rest in peace.

Marco North

January 10, 2012

Jan told me, "If it ain't in the picture...then it ain't in the picture." She was chain-smoking at the time, and paused to make sure I got it. I repeat this advice to myself and others more than 20 years later. She was a gift. She holds a very special place. Tough and kind, deeply caring, brutally funny - the essence of an artist and a teacher.

Robert Rinaldi

January 9, 2012

Jan was one of my favorite teachers, period. Her straightforward attitude, caustic wit and irreverence for, well, almost everything, fit in well with many of the photography students at SUNY Purchase in the mid 1980s. She was my inspiration to do what I wanted to do, regardless of what others might think or say. I will always carry her with me.

Tracie Groover Hart Hurley

January 9, 2012

To My Loving Sister, Jan I miss you more than I thought I ever would. You were my sister/mother/rock. You were always there for me. I will miss you more than words can say. I will always love you, your loving sister.

James Murphy

January 8, 2012

I am very sorry and sad to hear about Jan Groover's death. Those of us who were lucky enough to have her as a teacher will all agree that her influence on us went well beyond photography. She actually taught us to see. Everyone I know who studied with her has commented that it was a life changing experience. Not in any sentimental way, but in truly profound ways. She inspired me to pursue teaching, and I have thought about her influence often in the years since college. Some of her words still ring in my ears 20+ years later. Jan was a force of nature. What a beautiful legacy she has left with us...and what awe inspiring work she made. She is truly one of the giants of art history.

Shasti O'Leary-Soudant

January 8, 2012

Deeply saddened by this extraordinary woman's passing. She was the best teacher I ever had, and the inspiration for every single teaching "trick" I have. I never got to thank her properly, and I should have, years ago.

You were my hero, Jan. I hope that one day I mean half as much to a student as you mean to me. I love you and am so incredibly grateful to you for properly focussing my eyes.

Scooter's having a Maker's Mark in your honor. I'll be over here in my corner with a Jameson's and a cigarette, remembering your incredible laughter and your brilliant mind.

Maggie Steber

January 8, 2012

I'm so saddened to learn of the passing of Jan Groover. Just looking at her remarkable work put me into a space of marvelous relationships between objects. In her work I saw fantasy, the dreams of mankind, the perfect construction of objects and their relation to each other....I always hoped I would meet her and I never did but through her work, I felt like she was a mentor and a best friend. Long live her work and her memory. Maggie Steber

Evie McKenna

January 7, 2012

Jan used to tell students "If you can't do it, don't do it." Within this cryptic sounding message was some valuable advice about taking the next step with your artwork. She was really an inspiring female role model in photography and academia at a time when photography was very male. Truly beautiful work too.

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