Deacon Clyde Grover, a beloved father, husband, friend, teacher and deacon, died Oct. 14 in Midwest City from complications with COVID-19. He was 62.
He was born May 31, 1958, as the eldest child to Chester and Dorothy (Jones) Grover, in Elmira, N.Y. In 1976, he joined the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of Senior Master Sergeant. He converted to Catholicism while stationed at his first duty station, Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota in 1978. His next assignment was to Izmir, Turkey, where he met and married his wife, Ann, who also was serving in the Air Force. The two married in 1981.
While serving in the military, Deacon Grover earned his bachelor’s degree in business from Louisiana Tech University and his master’s degree in counseling from Boston University.
In 1996, six moves and five children later, Deacon Grover and his family settled in Oklahoma. After retiring from the U.S. Air Force, Deacon Grover began his second career as a teacher at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School in Oklahoma City, eventually becoming the Theology Department coordinator. Teaching at a Catholic high school seemed a perfect fit for a man of faith who understood it was important to use faith, humor, simple life lessons and generosity to help form generations of students, often saying “Sunrise is God’s message; sunset is his signature,” imploring students to recognize God’s gifts. While teaching at Bishop McGuinness, Deacon Grover earned another bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry from Newman University.
In 2013, Deacon Grover was ordained into the Permanent Diaconate and served as a deacon at Saint Andrew Catholic Church in Moore. He was known for being gracious and caring, and always available to serve others.
Deacon Grover’s influence extended to his home where he was a steadfast example of love, faith and the importance of family. It became a family tradition to pray the Rosary every Sunday, attend Mass together and – even during the pandemic with children now in other states – to find a way to get together virtually, for happy hours, workouts and Rosaries; the siblings insisting it was important to “stick together.” As a testament to their father’s influence, all five children chose careers in a field of public service and all five earned degrees.
In early October, the COVID-19 pandemic made it to the Grover family. A few days after two members of his household tested positive for the virus, Deacon Grover became ill. On Oct. 8, he was admitted to the emergency room, suffering from shortness of breath. His son, Rev. Daniel Grover, a priest in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, was able to anoint his father and pray with him before symptoms worsened.
On Oct. 14, six days after he entered the hospital, Deacon Grover died from complications from COVID-19.
Through social media posts and media stories about Deacon Grover’s death, his children began a campaign #LoveLikeClyde with the hope their father’s story would help lead others to faith and prayer.
Deacon Grover is survived by his wife, Ann, and his five children, Christopher, Daniel, Jennifer, MaryAnn and Matthew.
The wake for Deacon Grover was held Oct. 23 at Saint Andrew Catholic Church in Moore. The funeral Mass was Oct. 24 at Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond with Archbishop Coakley presiding and Father Jack Feehily as homilist. Interment is at Resurrection Memorial Cemetery in Oklahoma City.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that gifts be made to the Deacon Clyde Grover Memorial Scholarship Fund at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School - bmchs.org/donate/grover-scholarship