Stanley Grossman

October 29, 1930 - October 15, 2011 NORMAN A great soul left us on Saturday morning, October 15, 2011, at age 80, after a long battle with malignant melanoma and a degenerative spine disorder. Stan Grossman was born on October 29, 1930, in New York City, New York, to Abraham Grossman and Marcelle Kunzli Grossman (later McCarthy). He grew up in the Inwood Park neighborhood at the northern tip of Manhattan Island. After skipping the eighth grade, he entered Brooklyn Technical High School, graduating in 1947 at age 16, and after one year of junior college in upstate New York, he entered the University of Oklahoma. He walked on to legendary coach Bruce Drake's basketball team at OU and earned an athletic scholarship, eventually starting as the point guard in his junior and senior seasons. In his junior season, he earned all-Big 7 conference tournament team honors, and was most proud that he was able to return to his hometown and help the Sooners upset eventual NIT and NCAA national champion City College of New York at Madison Square Garden for a second consecutive year. Stan received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from OU in June 1952 and entered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a Lieutenant, serving for two years, first at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, and then briefly in Japan and Korea. He married Mary Suzanne Brown while on leave on January 31, 1953, a union that continued for fifty-eight years. After leaving the service, Stan went to work for Treat Engineering in Oklahoma City, where he was able to work on many important public works projects, and where he met his eventual business partner, Guy N. Keith (who died earlier this year). Later Stan returned to OU to obtain his master's degree and briefly to teach civil engineering before starting his own engineering consulting business in Norman. His master's thesis concerned the use of computers in highway bridge engineering, and he was an early pioneer in the use of computers as a private consulting engineer. After linking up with Guy N. Keith to establish Grossman & Keith Engineering Co., with offices in Oklahoma City and Norman, Stan participated for over forty years in many key transportation and building projects throughout the state and nation. He was also an inventor, holding numerous patents, most prominently for the Inverset bridge system, a prestressed, modular product that could be erected in a few days instead of the months ordinarily required to complete or replace a highway bridge. Stan was intensely public-spirited, serving for many years on the board of the Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District, which was responsible for managing public water sources for the communities south and east of Oklahoma City. He instigated and participated in various less formal groups and campaigns concerning local public issues in Norman, ever vigilant about public spending that he believed was inefficient or the product of undue influence from private interests. He also was a frequent contributor of "letters to the editor" of the Norman Transcript, on a host of local, state, and national issues. Throughout a busy professional and public life, he maintained a lifelong love of competitive athletics. His team at Ft. Belvoir won the 1953 All-Army Basketball Championship in a year in which service teams were filled with Olympic and NBA-caliber competitors. Having grown up playing one-wall handball on the playgrounds in New York City, he took up indoor handball in Oklahoma and was a perennial state champion in that sport. He was a devoted fan of OU athletics for sixty years, particularly football, basketball, and wrestling, and was overwhelmingly proud that his daughter was able to attend OU on a varsity softball scholarship. He helped spearhead the campaign to build the current practice facility for the basketball team, named for his former coach, Bruce Drake, as well as the campaign to build the current practice facility for the wrestling team, named for former wrestling coach and assistant athletic director, Port Robertson. He also led campaigns to have Bruce Drake and OU and Olympic decathlete, Tom Churchill, named to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. Stan is survived by his wife, Mary, of the home; his son, Mark Grossman, and his wife, Cynthia Brundige, of Oklahoma City; his daughter, Jennifer Grossman, and her partner, Jessica Cummins, of Norman; his grandchildren, Kathryn, Steven, and Mallory Grossman; and his cousin, Bernard Covitch of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. He was predeceased by his parents; his aunts, Ella Ehrlich and Mary Covitch; and cousins, Albert Ehrlich, Judah Covitch, and Nathan Covitch. Stan's family would like to thank the health care professionals at Norman Regional Hospital, OU Medical Center, and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who fought with Stan to extend his life, and the nurses and aides at LifeCare, particularly Molly Ross, Wanda Smith and Helen Dawson, who helped him with care and compassion through his final days at home. In lieu of flowers, Stan's family asks that contributions in Stan's memory be made to the University of Oklahoma Foundation, at 100 Timberdell Road, Norman, OK 73019 (or www.oufoundation.org); or to the Melanoma Research Foundation, at 1411 K Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20005 (or at www.melanoma.org). A memorial gathering to celebrate Stan's life and achievements will be held at the Kerr-McGee Club Lounge at the south end of the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman on Thursday, November 3, 2011, beginning at 10:00 a.m.