Grover E. Gongaware

  General Notes:

Grover E. Gongaware, 65, of Melbourne, Fla., died Friday, Feb. 14, 2003, in Lake Worth, Fla., with his family at his side. Grover"Sonny"was born Nov. 26, 1937, in Penn Township, a son of the late Grover C. Gongaware. He graduated in 1956 from Irwin/North Irwin Joint High School. Upon graduating, he joined the U.S. Air Force and served our country. Grover retired from Westinghouse, Trafford, and later moved to Melbourne. Grover will always be remembered for his love of politics, talk radio, his tremendous generosity and countless abilities. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends, and his parrots, Odie and Jake. In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by a brother, William E. Gongaware, in 1978. He is survived by two sons, Greg of North Irwin and Tom (Jen) of Greensburg; three daughters, Lori (Ken) Cipra of North Huntingdon, Renee (John) Leszcynski of Greensburg and Kristen (Chris) Batton of North Irwin; two"stepdaughters,"Tammy (Rob) Koper of Wallington, Fla., and Robin (Tim) Salony of Lake Worth, Fla.; and 10 grandchildren. A memorial service was held Feb. 19, 2003, in the Koper home in Wallington, Fla. Arrangements by the ALL COUNTY CREMATORY, Lake Worth, Fla.

Grover married Marjorie Wigle, daughter of Christopher Lauffer Wigle and Sarah M. Good, on 23 Mar 1959. (Marjorie Wigle was born on 5 Sep 1913 in Larimer, PA, died on 26 Dec 1991 in Larimer, PA and was buried in Irwin Union Cemetery, Irwin, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania.)