Gene Gary Gruver |
| Posted 2009-08-25 by Pat Wilson |
| Gene Gary Gruver, a clinical psychologist and mental health advocate whose career spanned more than 30 years and included time counseling UA students and faculty as well as private practice, died Monday. He was 70. A quadriplegic after an injury during his military service, Gruver also served on many national boards and fought for increased research and treatment of spinal cord injuries. "He was an extraordinary role model," said Dr. Charles Putnam, a longtime friend and a UA professor of surgery and pharmacology. "He had an enormous circle of patients, friends and colleagues who counted upon him for professional and personal support, guidance, advice and wisdom." Gruver wrote a 2001 guest editorial in the Arizona Daily Star, thanking a friend who gave him a kidney after his began failing, calling it the "ultimate gift." Cheri Adams, who donated her kidney, described Gruver as a second father. She met Gruver working in his office and they stayed close friends for more than 20 years. Adams said Gruver treated his injury as a challenge to be crushed rather than a misfortune. Gruver reached out to people in both his personal and professional life with wisdom, humor and a deep respect for human dignity, she said. Gruver was born in Redfield, S.D., and grew up in nearby Huron. He joined the Navy in 1954 and suffered a spinal cord injury during a motor vehicle collision on Saipan the following year. He married Dorothy Dykstra in 1959 and the couple moved to Arizona in 1964. Gruver graduated with honors from Grand Canyon College in 1966 and moved to Tucson to attend graduate school. Gruver received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Arizona in 1971. He worked at the University Student Counseling Center from 1971 to 1988 and had kept a private practice since 1971. In 1966, Gruver became the founding president of the Arizona Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America. He served from 1984 to 1994 as a trustee of the Spinal Cord Research Foundation in Washington, D.C., at the National Headquarters of Paralyzed Veterans of America. He was president of the Southern Arizona Psychological Association in 1981 and 1982 and served on the board of directors of Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona from 1999 to 2005. Gruver was also active in the local arts community as a supporter of the Dinnerware Contemporary Art Gallery and a noted collector in his own right, particularly of photography and oil paintings. Gruver is survived by Dorothy, his wife of 46 years, and foster daughter Shirley Gerardo and her five children. A memorial service is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at the Gruver residence. His family asks memorial donations be made to the Spinal Cord Research Foundation, 801 18th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006, 1-800-424-8200. The Arizona Daily Star August 3, 2005 |
Note: These obituaries are transcribed as published and are submitted by volunteers who have no connection to the families. They do not write the obituaries and have no further information other than what is posted within the obituaries. We do not do personal research. For this you would have to find a volunteer who does this or hire a professional researcher.
Questions About This Project?