Kathleen Joan Grotzinger

May 16, 1920 - October 1, 2018 Resident of Santa Clara

Joan, loving wife, mother, and grandmother died peacefully at home surrounded by family on October 1, 2018. She was born in in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, on May 16, 1920, the eldest daughter of William James and Elizabeth Mary Frances (Kilkelly) Nash, better known to family and friends as “Will & Lil.”

The Nashes settled in England following the end of Will’s service in the British Royal Navy. Joan was soon joined by two brothers, Bill, later to be known as the Reverend Brother William Arthur Nash, S.J., and the talented Frank, and a sister, Dorothy, who died at the tender age of two. Much later came another sister, the lovely Margaret Rose, sixteen years Joan’s junior.

Joan was an aspiring actress and a member of the London Dramatic Society before World War II changed her life forever. During the Blitz in the fall of 1940, London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 57 consecutive days and nights. The family home was partially destroyed. Joan’s brother Bill, serving in the British Royal Navy, twice survived direct attacks. Joan stood fire watch evenings and the family often sought shelter in the Underground during raids.

In 1944, she met a nice GI named Raymond Grotzinger at a Covent Garden dance in London. He was a gentleman, a pharmacist in the US Army Medical Corps, was similarly devoted to family and the Catholic faith and, apparently, could dance! In 1947, Ray and Joan were married in Ray’s hometown, St. Mary’s, PA. In the early ’50s, Ray accepted a position with the Veterans Administration Hospital in Altoona, PA, and the couple started their family. In 1960, Ray transferred to the VA Hospital in Menlo Park, CA, and the family moved to their Santa Clara home of many years.

Joan was a woman of vivacity, intelligence, fearlessness, enormous generosity and compassion. She loved being with people and people gravitated to her. She was a charmer. She loved to share stories – great, exciting, transporting stories. She never grew weary helping someone in pain. She had the gift of always knowing just the right thing to say at just the right time. She instilled in her children the values of decency, faith, and loyalty, as well as an appreciation of laughter, adventure, and lifelong friendships.

Joan is survived by her sister Margaret and her husband Dennis Wood of Brentwood, Essex, UK; her children and their spouses, William and Barbara Grotzinger of Saratoga, CA, Christine and David Hilton of El Dorado Hills, CA, and Raymond Jr. and Leah Grotzinger of Portland, OR; her grandchildren Paul and Kathleen Grotzinger; her godchildren Elizabeth Grotzinger of Washington, DC, and Vincent Wood of London, UK; and many nieces and nephews.

Services have been held. The family appreciates memorial donations to Queen of Apostles Church in San Jose or to Catholic Relief Services (www.crs.org).