Rosa Louise Groot

Rosa Potter Groot, 97, of Carmel, Indiana, passed away on February 2, 2026. She was born on October 27, 1928, in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to the late William and Pairilee Potter.

Rosa grew up in Kentucky during the Great Depression in a family of seven children. She graduated from Norton Memorial nursing school in Louisville in February 1951, and began a 37-year career in hospital nursing. She worked in hospitals all over the United States and received several awards for nursing excellence. Nursing was her passion.

She married Harry Warner Groot, Jr, in Louisville in May 1951, and together they raised three sons as they moved around the country, first with Harry's Air Force career and then with his jobs as an engineer in the chemical industry. They enjoyed 53 years of marriage together until Harry's passing in 2004.

After Rosa retired in 1988, they enjoyed traveling together, visiting family and taking Elder Hostel programs. Rosa learned to weave then, adding to her lifelong skills as a seamstress. They built a house together in retirement near Christiansburg, Virginia, and lived there for several years. They lived in Warm Hearth Village in Blacksburg, Virginia as well. After Harry's passing, Rosa moved to Carmel, Indiana to live near her son Thomas and his wife Elisabeth. She lived in Carmel for twenty years.

Rosa had a heart for the poor and was generous to everyone she met. She was always concerned about people who did not have enough to eat, having experienced hunger in her youth. This motivated her great charity to the poor throughout her life. She was quick to find an encouraging word, and was kind to everyone. Her vocation as a nurse flowed from her deep compassion and desire to help others. She was also disciplined and tough, becoming a head nurse later in her career using these strengths. She was faithful to God throughout her life, first as a Presbyterian and Methodist. She joined the Catholic Church at 88 at Saint Elizabeth Seton Church in Carmel.

Rosa is survived by her sons, Harry, Richard and Thomas; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and her sister, Elizabeth Ann (Alfred) Jennings. She is preceded in passing by her loving spouse, Harry; her parents; her siblings, Dorothy Smithers, James Potter, Charles Potter, Willie Potter Jr, Francis Potter, and Albert Potter; and her great-granddaughter Shell Groot.

A Visitation will be held on Tuesday, February 10, from 4pm to 6pm, at Flanner Buchanan – Carmel, 325 E. Carmel Drive. A Funeral Mass will be on Wednesday, February 11, at 10:30am, with additional Visitation time starting at 9:30am, at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church, 10655 Haverstick Rd, Carmel, IN 46033.

Committal will be Tuesday, February 17, 10:00 am, at Highland Memory Gardens mausoleum, 5555 Lee Highway, Dublin, Virginia, 24084.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Rosa's memory to the Merciful H.E.L.P. Center, 1045 W 146th St suite B, Carmel, IN 46032.