The dream lives on
Eileen Gronich makes donation to school of medicine in honour of her late husband, Frank
They travelled tens of thousands of miles. They meandered many of life’s roads along the way.
They celebrated many triumphs and failures.
But the dream of a little girl never went away.
Such is the story of Eileen Gronich and her late husband, Frank, a former member of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, who died on April 18, 2015 at the age of 83.
Some say the Groniches lived a charmed life on the surface. But underneath there were several things that were left unfinished.
The couple wanted children, but life got in the way and then it was too late as they jumped in with both feet on a trio of business ventures in Corner Brook.
And, for as long as she could remember, Eileen always wanted to be a doctor.
She and her sister played at medicine when they were young. Eileen was always the doctor and her sister was the nurse, a profession she went on enter when they grew up.
Eileen went to work as a stenographer at Bowater Pulp and Paper.
After a few years there, she and Frank decided to open a flower shop in Corner Brook in addition to partnering in a dress shop there and a second flower shop in Wabush, Labrador.
“We worked hard at our flower shop and business ventures. We supplied a lot of the Northern Peninsula with flowers,” she said.
“The store started as a hobby and grew quickly into a very busy venture. But it was a labour of love,” she added.
The ventures flourished and the Groniches were able to live a comfortable life.
So much, in fact, that after 12 years of business, they decided to take an extended vacation to Europe, and navigated the continent — 22 countries — for the next two years.
“We were living out of a suitcase and Frank got bored. He decided he wanted to go home and go to law school. He was 40,” she said.
He practiced law and served the community in St. John’s well, acting as Crown prosecutor, but also as a friend and mentor to his younger colleagues.
It is this example, the need for giving back and her youthful dream of being a doctor, that drove Eileen to make a decision to help others.
This decision became evident after Eileen attended a Memorial University school of medicine function.
“Eileen met a student at one of our events and heard his story.
“This compelled her to start the scholarship and she also made a donation for crash carts and a number of other items,” said Dr. Margaret Steele, dean of the medical school.
“That donation helps us in our simulator. In my day we practiced on live patients. Today, these students get things like a crash cart, which they learn how to run so when they get to the wards and someone has a heart attack, they have experience to fall back on.”
Steele said Eileen has been a huge supporter of the school of medicine, as a physical presence as well as in a philanthropic role.
“We worked very hard all our lives and we wanted our money to go to a good cause,” Eileen said.
“I think Frank would be very pleased with how I chose to donate.”
Her donations led to several key developments at Memorial’s school of medicine, including the opening of a lecture theatre named the Frank and Eileen Gronich Lecture Theatre in 2017 and an ongoing scholarship presented in Frank’s name.
Nadine Rockwood was the inaugural recipient of the Gronich Scholarship, and Stephen Browne was chosen as the second winner.
Both recipients sent Eileen heartfelt notes, thanking them for the scholarships.
They each said they hoped they would be able to follow the example and tradition that Frank Gronich set for them.
“We never had any children and we so wanted children. These young students have become our children,” Eileen said.
The people at the medical school are the benefactors of the hard work put forth by the Groniches.
“This donation will help prepare future health leaders to contribute to our communities and improve the health of individuals and populations through the discovery, application and communication of knowledge,” Steele said.
“Medical students graduate with an average debt load of about $160,000. By creating scholarships and bursaries and awards means our students can focus more on becoming great doctors and researchers, and worry less about acquiring a massive student debt.”
How it started
Eileen met and married Frank, an immigrant who came to Canada from Germany around the age of 20.
Born in the Czech Republic, Frank was displaced twice as the Russians drove his family out of his homeland when he was six; his family settled in Germany, where he lived for more than a decade before deciding to come to Canada.
He settled in Aylesford, N.S., from where the next phase of his journey would begin and eventually saw him settle in Corner Brook as an employee for Canada Packers.
It was there he met Eileen, and the couple was married for five decades until his death.
In 1972, when in his early 40s, he and Eileen took the courageous step of selling their business and travelling the world for two years.
Then he went to Memorial University, where he earned a degree in ancient history and political science, and ultimately went to Dalhousie law school.
He served articles in the provincial Department of Justice.
Frank was called to the bar in 1980 and then took a position as Crown prosecutor with the Department of Justice. He served as a Crown counsel on the criminal side of the department for the rest of his career, appearing primarily in provincial court. He retired in the early 1990s.
Eileen, now in her eighth decade, resides in St. John’s and remains extremely active in the community, and winning a game or two of bridge with the residents in her building.
“This donation will help prepare future health leaders to contribute to our communities and improve the health of individuals and populations through the discovery, application and communication of knowledge,”
Dr. Margaret Steele, dean of the medical school