Arline Lucille Day Groscup

Born in Hollister, California in 1932, Arline's early childhood years were rooted in nature ~ working on the family’s orchards nurturing both apricot and walnut trees alongside her parents and sister, Marguerite, Clarence & Claudia. She recounts these years as being filled with sweet memories of farm life, creating games with friends, jump rope and hopscotch, riding neighborhood horses, and her cow, Bessie.

Arline met and began life with her lifetime sweetheart, Don Groscup, while at Hollister High School. They enjoyed a beautiful life together culminating in 73-years of marriage. They spent their early years flying planes over and around the Monterey Bay, water skiing, and living life fully! Later years took them to the San Francisco Bay Area ~ where Arline worked at Fort Mason for army intelligence.

Shortly after starting a family, they moved to their long term home in Sharon Heights, within Menlo Park, California. Mother to Chuck, Susan and Karen, Arline thrived as a housewife. She became famous for many of her meals, particularly her famous enchiladas and chili rellenos ~ rivaling any restaurant today! She was a master of creating celebrations and parties, from her famous salmon and chilled cucumbers at family gatherings around the pool to her widely anticipated Mexican party equipped with a mariachi band and, of course, her enchiladas!

She never missed a swim meet, and there were many with each of her children swimming 10-years competitively. Being part of the Ladera Oaks Swim & Tennis community across these years was something she cherished. Outside of carpooling for swimming she never missed a beat ~ taking her children to scouts, brownies, and piano lessons all the while coordinating breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Arline volunteered for the Allied Arts Guild for many years, an organization with gardens and a beautiful gift shop to raise money for Stanford Children’s Hospital. Her claim to fame while there was helping to select and sell an item to Shirley Temple’s father, a gift for Shirley’s birthday. Later in life, Arline started and ran a thriving plant business, Green Interiors with her long time friend, Doris Adams. It was a successful business for years. In it her design skills flourished ~ creating always the perfect selection of plants and containers for each account. The business also opened a window to design flower arrangements ~ including weekly trips to the flower mart in San Francisco at 6 am to buy flowers. Then Arline’s artistic qualities would spring into action right at the kitchen table. Creating exquisite designs was a gift of hers, fostered her connection to beauty, art, elegance and simplicity ~ traits that exemplified all of who Arline was.

Arline and Don moved to Vi at Silverstone in 2016. She repeatedly acknowledged with graciousness the gift of being at the Vi, from the community, including all of the staff, to the care and beautiful grounds. She was humbled as she’d say… How did a simple farm girl end up here? It is that sentiment that surmises Arline ~ a woman of strength balanced with grace, beauty and gratitude.