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Obituaries - August 28, 2008

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Obituaries - August 28, 2008



          JAMES OTTO GROVE JR.
        James Otto Grove Jr. passed away peacefully surrounded by his loved ones on Aug. 25 in Albuquerque.
        Jim Grove was born in St. Louis, Mo., in August 1932 to James Sr. and Bessie Grove (née Clary). When he was 2 the family moved to Melrose, N.M., and later they moved to Los Alamos, where he attended high school.
        He, his lifelong friend, Al Netz, and another friend decided that high school was not for them and they dropped out of school to seek their fortunes in the Northwest. After a series of adventures he and Alan joined the Air Force, where he hoped that he could use his exceptional talents as a mechanic to work on airplanes. The strange logic of the military deemed that he was better served as a cook and so he served his entire hitch (as he put it) "on permanent KP," including a tour of Korea.
        He met a pretty girl named Mona Bradford and in June of 1953 they married and settled down in Marysville, Calif., where their daughter Lydia Lynn was born. Four years later their second daughter, Cheryl Dianne, arrived and the family moved to the San Fernando Valley.
        Jim used his training from the service to work as a cook but soon tired of it and went to work as a mechanic. He opened his own shop in San Fernando and kept busy there for many years as his children grew and married to start families of their own. Cheryl married a local boy named Julius Schram and Lydia married the son of Jim's old friend, Dana Netz.
        In 1978 he tired of California so he closed his business and he and Mona moved to Cedar Crest. There he opened a garage and soon was just as busy as ever. During their 30 years in the area they developed many friends and were active in the community.
        When he retired and closed his shop he embarked on his final career.
        He and Mona traveled to Kansas, where they shopped the auctions for items that they could sell at the flea market or to collectors.
        Anyone who has visited the Grove home knows of all of the antiques and knickknacks that decorate the house. Many of the pieces of innocuous scraps were turned into decorative lawn art by Jim's talented hands.
        Jim was a gracious man who treated everyone that he knew with kindness. He was widely known as a good, honest mechanic who probably at one time or another worked on just about every car in the East Mountains. A man of simple means, yet he was always ready to help out whenever anyone needed it. He left the world a better place and will be sorely missed.
        Jim was preceded in death by his parents, a half-brother and two of his sisters. In addition to his wife, he leaves behind a sister, Effie Feld of Pennsylvania; a brother, Ernest Grove of California; daughters Lydia of Jemez Springs, N.M., and Cheryl of Palmdale, Calif.; two sons-in-law, five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
        Direct Funeral Services of Albuquerque will handle cremation.
        There will be a memorial for Jim at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Grove home in Tijeras.
        KAREN LOUISE DENTINGER
        Karen Louise Dentinger, 55, of Albuquerque passed away on Aug. 25 at her home in Albuquerque. Karen was born on April 3, 1953, in Grand Junction, Colo., to Lewis and Norma (Elver) Dentinger. She was preceded in death by her mother. Karen is survived by her father, Lewis Dentinger and son, Wolfgang Gallegos, of Albuquerque.
        Arrangements for cremation entrusted to Harris-Hanlon Mortuary.