Joseph (Joe) Grossman was born in Brooklyn, NY on February 16, 1941 to Otto Grossman and Beatrice Cohen Grossman. He died on December 16, 2025. His older sister, Johanna Grossman Bauer, pre-deceased him. He is survived by Marcia Forman Grossman, his wife of 63 years, his children Debbie Grossman (married to Alan Peel) and Jessica Grossman (married to Joel Kaufman), and his grandchildren Naomi Peel and Rowyn Peel.
Joe Grossman grew up in Brooklyn, NY and later Newark, NJ. He attended Newark College of Engineering (now NJ Institute of Technology), graduating with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1962. He later did advanced work towards a Masters in Management Engineering.
As a teenager, a job at Boulevard Appliance in Newark, plus a side gig repairing radios, TVs and other electronics for neighbors and others, led to a life-long interest in working on electrical appliances, especially vintage tube radios. His Electrical Engineering degree led him to work at Bendix Aviation in Teterboro, NJ, GE Reentry Systems in Philadelphia, and RCA Sarnoff Labs in Princeton. He married Marcia Forman (Grossman) in December 1962. They lived in Nutley and then Cherry Hill, NJ.
In 1968, the family moved to the Washington, DC area where Joe started a 30-year career with the U.S. Navy SSPO (Strategic Systems Project Office). With their two daughters, Debbie and Jessica, and dog Barney, they settled first in Silver Spring, MD, and then moved to Chevy Chase, MD in 1976. That same year, Joe moved to a new position on the staff of SSP's Technical Director and was promoted to a GS15. He was appointed to the Federal Senior Executive Service (SES) in 1982. He was at the forefront of technical developments in GPS, underwater communications, and advanced missile tracking systems, among others. He gave briefings to the Chief of Naval Operations, the secretary of defense (Weinberger), and the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he met and argued with Admiral Hyman Rickover. He retired in 1998.
During their years in Chevy Chase (1976-1998), Joe headed up the Chevy Chase Section 3 incorporation committee and spent 7 years on the Chevy Chase Section 3 Governing Board with positions as Treasurer, Streets and Roads Commissioner, and Building Inspector. Joe also devised and managed a capital improvement program, which resulted in the rebuilding of all of the Section's streets and sewer lines.
In the 1980s, Joe and Marcia were some of the first members of the new Bethesda Health & Sports Club, where they took up racquetball and played in a league. They also continued their early love of camping, but "graduated" from a tent to a pop-up to a small Scotty, and then to a 22-foot Wilderness trailer, all of which they kept on a rental site at Crow's Nest Campground in Thurmont, MD. Barney died in 1982; Rags joined the family in 1983.
Deciding where to move in retirement was easy. Debbie had moved to Berkeley, married Alan Peel, and gave birth to Naomi Peel in 1997. Jessica was living in Las Vegas. Joe and Marcia moved to El Cerrito, CA in 1998. Second grandchild Rowyn Peel was born in 1999. Jessica moved to Oakland and married Joel Kaufman, a friend of Alan's. Rags died in 1999; they adopted Mandy in 2005.
In retirement in El Cerrito, Joe trained for and conducted meetings on the El Cerrito Revised General Plan; was a member of committee assessing EC's management practices and fiscal planning and execution; was assigned by the city council to a task team to develop an economic development plan for EC; and was appointed by the council to head the city's first Economic Development Commission and hire its first Director. He and Marcia trained to become members of NEAT (Neighborhood Emergency Assistance Team, which became CERT: Citizens Emergency Response Team after 9/11).
Joe and Marcia had both been raised in secular Jewish households. They discovered Kol Hadash, a humanistic Jewish congregation, soon after moving to El Cerrito. They joined the congregation, and each of them held various positions on the Board of Directors over the next 8 years. They also got involved with Stagebridge, a senior theater and arts organization in Oakland, taking acting, musical theater, and singing classes, and participating in final class performances. They regularly attended theater productions at Masquers Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, and Costa Contra Civic theater, among others, and ushered for the San Francisco Ballet and Opera. Rather than camping in just one place, they bought a travel trailer that they could tow, and explored the California and Oregon coasts. They also went on small-boat cruises to Alaska, Costa Rica/Panama Canal, the South Pacific, and the Galapagos. They made four long trips to the UK when their daughter Debbie's family ended up in Cambridge, England from 2003-2005 for her husband's first academic post-doc.
In 2019, they decided to down-size to a condo in Oakland, CA. They continued their outings and trips, and their involvement with Stagebridge, but let up on their civic involvement. Debbie's family had ended up in Maryland in 2005, where they visited frequently. Jessica and Joel settled nearby in Pleasant Hill. Mandy died in 2019; they adopted Rico in 2020. In 2023, Joe and Marcia moved to Viamonte in Walnut Creek, CA, where they could have more support as they aged.
Joe entered hospice on December 8. He died on December 16, with his wife and children at his bedside. Joe Grossman was brilliant, talented, funny, and kind. He will be sorely missed by his large circle of family, friends, and former co-workers. Donations can be made in memory of Joseph Grossman to the Alzheimer's Association: https://donorservices.alz.org/page/FUNYAFYQDKA
Joe Grossman grew up in Brooklyn, NY and later Newark, NJ. He attended Newark College of Engineering (now NJ Institute of Technology), graduating with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1962. He later did advanced work towards a Masters in Management Engineering.
As a teenager, a job at Boulevard Appliance in Newark, plus a side gig repairing radios, TVs and other electronics for neighbors and others, led to a life-long interest in working on electrical appliances, especially vintage tube radios. His Electrical Engineering degree led him to work at Bendix Aviation in Teterboro, NJ, GE Reentry Systems in Philadelphia, and RCA Sarnoff Labs in Princeton. He married Marcia Forman (Grossman) in December 1962. They lived in Nutley and then Cherry Hill, NJ.
In 1968, the family moved to the Washington, DC area where Joe started a 30-year career with the U.S. Navy SSPO (Strategic Systems Project Office). With their two daughters, Debbie and Jessica, and dog Barney, they settled first in Silver Spring, MD, and then moved to Chevy Chase, MD in 1976. That same year, Joe moved to a new position on the staff of SSP's Technical Director and was promoted to a GS15. He was appointed to the Federal Senior Executive Service (SES) in 1982. He was at the forefront of technical developments in GPS, underwater communications, and advanced missile tracking systems, among others. He gave briefings to the Chief of Naval Operations, the secretary of defense (Weinberger), and the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he met and argued with Admiral Hyman Rickover. He retired in 1998.
During their years in Chevy Chase (1976-1998), Joe headed up the Chevy Chase Section 3 incorporation committee and spent 7 years on the Chevy Chase Section 3 Governing Board with positions as Treasurer, Streets and Roads Commissioner, and Building Inspector. Joe also devised and managed a capital improvement program, which resulted in the rebuilding of all of the Section's streets and sewer lines.
In the 1980s, Joe and Marcia were some of the first members of the new Bethesda Health & Sports Club, where they took up racquetball and played in a league. They also continued their early love of camping, but "graduated" from a tent to a pop-up to a small Scotty, and then to a 22-foot Wilderness trailer, all of which they kept on a rental site at Crow's Nest Campground in Thurmont, MD. Barney died in 1982; Rags joined the family in 1983.
Deciding where to move in retirement was easy. Debbie had moved to Berkeley, married Alan Peel, and gave birth to Naomi Peel in 1997. Jessica was living in Las Vegas. Joe and Marcia moved to El Cerrito, CA in 1998. Second grandchild Rowyn Peel was born in 1999. Jessica moved to Oakland and married Joel Kaufman, a friend of Alan's. Rags died in 1999; they adopted Mandy in 2005.
In retirement in El Cerrito, Joe trained for and conducted meetings on the El Cerrito Revised General Plan; was a member of committee assessing EC's management practices and fiscal planning and execution; was assigned by the city council to a task team to develop an economic development plan for EC; and was appointed by the council to head the city's first Economic Development Commission and hire its first Director. He and Marcia trained to become members of NEAT (Neighborhood Emergency Assistance Team, which became CERT: Citizens Emergency Response Team after 9/11).
Joe and Marcia had both been raised in secular Jewish households. They discovered Kol Hadash, a humanistic Jewish congregation, soon after moving to El Cerrito. They joined the congregation, and each of them held various positions on the Board of Directors over the next 8 years. They also got involved with Stagebridge, a senior theater and arts organization in Oakland, taking acting, musical theater, and singing classes, and participating in final class performances. They regularly attended theater productions at Masquers Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, and Costa Contra Civic theater, among others, and ushered for the San Francisco Ballet and Opera. Rather than camping in just one place, they bought a travel trailer that they could tow, and explored the California and Oregon coasts. They also went on small-boat cruises to Alaska, Costa Rica/Panama Canal, the South Pacific, and the Galapagos. They made four long trips to the UK when their daughter Debbie's family ended up in Cambridge, England from 2003-2005 for her husband's first academic post-doc.
In 2019, they decided to down-size to a condo in Oakland, CA. They continued their outings and trips, and their involvement with Stagebridge, but let up on their civic involvement. Debbie's family had ended up in Maryland in 2005, where they visited frequently. Jessica and Joel settled nearby in Pleasant Hill. Mandy died in 2019; they adopted Rico in 2020. In 2023, Joe and Marcia moved to Viamonte in Walnut Creek, CA, where they could have more support as they aged.
Joe entered hospice on December 8. He died on December 16, with his wife and children at his bedside. Joe Grossman was brilliant, talented, funny, and kind. He will be sorely missed by his large circle of family, friends, and former co-workers. Donations can be made in memory of Joseph Grossman to the Alzheimer's Association: https://donorservices.alz.org/page/FUNYAFYQDKA
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