John Peter "Pete" Groesbeck

John Peter Groesbeck, 81, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend died Sunday evening, February 9, 2025, from heart complications and myelodysplastic syndrome at the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute Hospital.

Pete was born September 29, 1943, in Payson, Utah to Earl Sanderson "Monty" Groesbeck and Mary Margaret "May" Cowley, the youngest of five children. He lived his early childhood years in Randolph and Springville, Utah. In his first 2 years of life, Pete didn't know his father, who fought in the Second World War, finally returning after a 3-year deployment. His mother said that when his father walked into the house, Pete pointed at him and loudly asked, "Who's that man?" With his father home from the war, his parents opened an ice cream parlor on Springville's Main Street. They worked long hours with young Pete in tow. He liked to take naps on a bench next to the gas fireplace near the kitchen doors.

The business eventually expanded to a full menu Café and the work involved the entire family (older siblings Monty, Marilyn, and Kay). As he matured, Pete increased his capacity at the Café and earned money to pay for his own school clothes and movies. He often cited the Café as the origin of his industrious work ethic continuing throughout his life. His parents taught school in Randolph, Utah which he also attended. He moved back to Springville living with Monty and his wife Marilyn so he could graduate from Springville High School in 1961. Pete faithfully served in the Northern California mission from 1962 to 1964.

He earned a BA in International Relations/Political Science in 1968 and his MA in International Administration in 1971, both from Brigham Young University. After graduate school, he attended a career fair where he was selected to interview with the State of New York, who hired him in 1970. He joined the State of New York department of audit and control in the office of management and systems analysis. From 1971 to 1972, he worked on a special project as an administrative analyst helping in the design and implementation of computerized investment and cash management systems, replacing manual accounting and inventory procedures.

Pete eventually became a senior budget examiner in the drafting of the division's positions on bills passed by the state legislature. He managed the budget for multiple state agencies, such as the state worker's compensation board, department of labor, state insurance fund, state liquor authority, banking authority, and the state's Council of the Arts with beloved colleague Kitty Carlisle Hart. He retired from the State of New York in 1985 after working there for 15 years.

While in the Albany Ward and Stake, he served as stake genealogy librarian, scoutmaster, Sunday school teacher, elder's quorum president, assistant stake clerk, and stake executive secretary. It was while serving in this position when general authority Elder Loren C. Dunn from the Quorum of the Seventy was assigned to the Albany New York Stake to preside over a Stake Conference. While attending the Saturday night luncheon, he questioned Pete about meeting his possible future wife, and mentioned he knew a secretary who was working for the First Council of the Seventy whom he thought may potentially be a good match for him.

Pete flew back to visit family for the holidays and arranged a first date with Genevieve, taking her to enjoy a primary program at the Tabernacle. They fell in love and were together nearly every day during his vacation. He proposed, then flew back to New York for 2 weeks, then returned to Salt Lake City for the wedding. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on January 27, 1976, with the reception the same night at Memory Grove Memorial House and another reception days later in Springville at his parent's cottage. They met and married within 37 days.

The couple lived in the Village of Menands, New York, a suburb of Albany, from 1976 to 1985. While there, they raised five of their seven children: Matt, Kathryn, Holly, Amy and Marci. In 1985, Pete and Genevieve decided to move back to Utah to be near their extended family, where they had two additional children: Michael and Kristianne. Pete secured a job with the State of Utah Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, where he would work as a budget analyst cooperating with the state legislature. He also worked on special projects. He supported the Governor's roadbuilding program with the department of transportation, helping to expedite construction of the Bangerter Highway. He also managed the rollout of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in many built structures around the state, particularly in Southern Utah.

He would then go on to become a key figure at the State of Utah Labor Commission in 1992. Pete developed the state's worker's compensation mediation program, developed their workplace safety program, performed claims intakes, and mediated worker's compensation and sexual harassment disputes so they didn't have to go to court. As such, he was essentially the commission's first mediator in the Industrial Accidents Division mediation program, which has now established multiple positions.

Pete's whole heart and soul was centered around his family and serving in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He loved the Lord and the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. He was a soft spoken, humble man filled with love in his heart for everyone. He loved his aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews from both his family and his wife's. He often went to help clean the church, volunteered at the cannery and welfare square, and worked at the church farm as much as he could. He served as first counselor in the bishopric of the Bennion Utah East Stake in the late 1980s to early 1990s.

Pete was consistently involved in family history and indexing. He strived to complete six goals on a nearly daily basis: prayer, read the Book of Mormon, listen to a general conference talk, do some family indexing, and personal family history research, and family time. From 2016 to 2017, Pete and Gen served a mission in the Utah Salt Lake City West Mission. He served at the temple, first as a veil worker, then as an ordinance worker at the Jordan River Temple and later the Taylorsville Temple constructed in 2024. He loved all the associations that church offered in whatever capacity, from service projects, stake farming activities and home teaching to scouting and church softball and basketball. For several years in Albany, Pete would practice basketball at the church gym early in the morning before work to prepare for games on Saturdays. With the chapel extension remodel, he influenced the Stake President to purchase glass basketball backboards for the gym, which of course he utilized with his famous right hook. Pete devoted his life to strive to live the gospel, and he was faithful and true.

He played the piano proficiently, sang in ward choirs, and loved all the music his wife and children produced. Pete loved baseball and basketball and taught his oldest son to play in Menands. Later in Utah, he would also get his girls into little league softball as well as church basketball. Of course, he loved camping and fishing, doing that not only with the scouts, but ventured out on many camping and fishing adventures with his own family. American Fork Canyon was usually his number one choice for fishing. He also frequented Hobble Creek, the Payson Lakes and its Peteetneet Creek.

He will be dearly missed by his sweetheart Genevieve and his children: Matt, Kathryn (Patrick) Clark, Holly (Chad) Johnson, Amy (Brian) Jones, Michael, and Kristianne (Benjamin) Montrose, and 12 grandchildren (Kora, Lila, Violet, Charlotte, Claire and Cyrus Jones, Bella, Chase and Noah Johnson; Lia and Tara Montrose, and Michael Clark. He was preceded in death by his daughter Marci Anne Groesbeck (deceased 2004); parents, Earl Sanderson "Monty" Groesbeck and Mary Margaret "May" Cowley; siblings and their spouses, Monty (Marilyn) Groesbeck; Marilyn (Mark) Robertson; Ann Christine (deceased at 6 years of age); and Katherine "Kay" (Eran) Call. Pete was the last of his family.

The viewing will be Thursday, February 13, 2025, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at McDougal Funeral Home, 4330 S Redwood Rd, Taylorsville, Utah. Funeral services will be Friday, February 14, from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM at the Riverview Ward LDS Church, 1325 West 5550 South, Taylorsville, Utah. Interment will be at Salt Lake City Cemetery 200 N St E, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Those who wish to livestream the service may do so at the following link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83118035608