Gerald "Gerry" Groden

GRODEN, GERALD "GERRY"
of Wakefield, Rhode Island -- psychologist, tennis player, farmer, jazz fan, and greatly beloved by his family -- died peacefully at his home in West Palm Beach on March 10.
Gerry was born in Cambridge, Mass. in 1931, the son of Ruth (Patten) and Eugene Groden. Gerry attended Winchester schools before earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology from the University of Vermont and his doctorate in clinical child psychology from Purdue University.
For many years, Gerry was the Director of Psychology at the Child Development Center at Rhode Island Hospital. Additionally, he was an adjunct associate professor at both Brown University and the University of Rhode Island, an assistant professor at Indiana University Medical School, and served as an instructor at Brown University School of Medicine.
Gerry was nationally and internationally recognized for his leadership in bringing innovative treatments to children and adults with autism. Together with his wife, June Groden, Gerry founded the Groden Center in Providence in 1976. Over the next forty years, under their leadership, the Groden Center evolved into the Groden Network of Programs, one of the largest and most successful autism programs in the United States. These programs have changed the lives of thousands of children, young adults, and their families in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Gerry, a gifted researcher, authored and co-authored dozens of scholarly articles and leading books on autism and related topics. In his professional community, he was especially well known for his work in developing comprehensive behavioral assessments. His thoughtful and professional approach combined with his easy and selfless way of dealing with people brought great comfort and hope to his colleagues and to the families he worked with. Helen Morcos of the Groden Center commented, "Gerry's dedication went beyond the needs of the clients. He truly valued families as members of the team and was committed to supporting their needs. He sincerely cared for each and every one of us. His presence will be sorely missed, but his legacy will go on forever as we continue his work in our daily lives."
Gerry believed strongly in community involvement. He served on many committees and held leadership and board positions for a number of organizations, including the Rhode Island College Foundation, Rhode Island Children's Policy Coalition, Provider Resources Benefit Mental Health Subcommittee, Governor's Advisory Commission on Children, Youth and Families, Rhode Island Permanent Advisory Committee on Mental Retardation, Rhode Island Coordinated Early Intervention Program, and the Rhode Island Psychological Association.
Gerry was honored for his work by Common Cause Rhode Island for Effective Volunteer Citizen Advocacy on Behalf of Rhode Island's Most Vulnerable Children, and with the President's Award from The Sophia Little Home, as well as numerous recognitions by his peers for his outstanding work in his profession, including being named a Diplomat of the American Psychotherapy Association.
Because of the four decades Gerry and June spent together as co-CEOs of the Groden Network, it was often difficult to tell where Gerry's work life stopped and his personal life began. But his family knew that Gerry valued his family above all else and that June was the center of his universe personally as well as professionally.
Gerry's dry sense of humor and gentle way of shaping souls touched the lives of everyone he was close to. He loved spending time with his children and grandchildren, who will always remember the train set he built, playing ball in the Wakefield backyard, his jokes and magic tricks, and his inability to leave a toy store without something for each of them.
A farmer at heart, Gerry loved driving his tractor (with or without grandkids on board) and working in the barn on his 1972 Karmann Ghia that somehow never got fully repaired. He cared deeply about preserving the mountain laurel that lines Ministerial Road and was an active member of the committee that succeeded in preventing the road from being turned into a major highway and instead becoming a designated Rhode Island scenic road.
Gerry was an avid tennis player into his '80s, often playing as many as three hours a day, and then still having the energy to go hit a couple of buckets of golf balls at the driving range. He loved good beer, blueberry muffins, and all types of music, especially jazz and blues, and made a pilgrimage each summer to his favorite jazz festival. He was always up for dancing at the Old Met Café or the Last Call Saloon. When ALS overtook him, Gerry told his family not to be sad: "I've had a great life."
Gerry is survived by his brother Edward Groden (Nancy) of Falmouth, Mass. and sister Valerie Waine (Ken) of Palm Coast, Fla.; son John Groden of Burlington, VT; stepchildren Lisa Davis (Geoff) of Providence and Richard Samdperil (Michelle) of Portsmouth, N.H.; and grandchildren Jennifer, Ashley, Charles, Felicity, Foster, Ophelia, Phineas, and Zephaniah. He was predeceased by his parents, his stepmother Edna Groden, and his brother Eugene "Buzz" Groden.
John Irving wrote, "When people die, ….—I mean the people you will always remember, the ones who changed your life—they never really go away."
A memorial service will be held in Providence this spring on a date to be announced.
Donations in Gerry's memory may be sent to The Groden Center, 610 Manton Avenue, Providence, RI 02909; the ALS Association Rhode Island Chapter, 2374 Post Road, Suite 103, Warwick, RI 02886; or Hospice of Palm Beach County, 5300 East Ave., West Palm Beach, FL 33407.