Robert J.W. Grodan

Robert J. W. Grodan, 74, of Greenland passed away at home on January 1, 2026 after a long battle with Pancreatic Cancer, with his loving wife, Wendy, by his side.
He was born on August 28, 1951 in Portsmouth, son of the late Ewalt Robert Grodan and Priscilla (Jacques) Caswell
He attended Portsmouth Schools, graduating with the class of 1969.
He was employed with the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for 26 years, and retired as an SRA Project Assistant in 1998.
After retiring, he worked several jobs, eventually spending many years working at the Bowl-O-Rama in Portsmouth, where he was able to combine his passion for bowling with his mechanical knowledge of the day to day maintenance and operations.
He also coached the Youth Bowling League and bowled in many leagues and tournaments, even winning the 4 strike pool.
In 2016 he found his dream retirement job working at the Greenland Transfer Station, where is enjoyed socializing with the town residents. He believed that other peoples trash, were his treasures. Unfortunately, he eventually had to stop working due to his illness.
His many passions included collecting sports memorabilia, classic cars, reading history and biography books, doing projects around the house, playing golf, doing Sudoku and word search puzzles and especially playing over 500 games of cribbage with his sister Margaret, which he kept track of every win, loss, and skunk. In his younger days he helped coach the Greenland Little League. He was awarded Greenland Women's Club Citizen of the Year in 1995 for helping restore the Parrott Cemetery.
Besides his wife, Wendy, he is survived by his son Robert Grodan of Louisville, KY, three grandchildren, Joey, Hunter, and Nathaniel, his sister, Margaret Laflamme, his brother, Arthur Grodan, a niece, Jaime Szopa and her husband Craig, and their daughters, Victoria, Makayla, Katelyn, and Kendra, a nephew, Kenneth Trulock and his wife Kristine and their sons, Paiden and Camryn. He is also survived by a granddaughter, Lillianna Hibbard, on his wife's side, and his cats, whom he loved dearly.
SERVICES – A Celebration of Life will take place on Saturday January 24, 2026 from 4:00-7:00 pm at the Portsmouth Elks Lodge BPOE #97, 500 Jones Ave., Portsmouth, NH. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (www.dfci.org), or the Pope Animal Shelter of Dover, NH (https://popememorialcvhs.org/) or Beacon Hospice 25 New Hampshire Ave Suite 272, Portsmouth, NH 03801. Arrangements in care of the J. Verne Wood Funeral Home - Buckminster Chapel, 84 Broad St., Portsmouth, NH. For online condolences, visit: www.jvwoodfuneralhome.com.