Al Grotz

Alfred Lawrence Grotz, beloved husband, father, brother, and uncle, died on November 15, 2015 of a sudden heart attack. A memorial service will be held on November 18 at 11 a.m. at Blessing Funeral Home in Mansfield, Texas. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dalmatian Rescue of North Texas (dalpal.com) or a local chapter of the Humane Society.

A charismatic and popular teacher of American and world history, geography, and economics, Al taught at Kennedale High School from 1998 to 2013. Since retirement, he continued to teach a variety of courses at Tarrant County College as well as in the dual-credit program at Mansfield and Arlington high schools.

The son of Lawrence John Grotz, an American, and Elisabeth Wagner Grotz, a German, Al was born in Tacoma, Washington on July 5, 1949 but primarily grew up in East Northport on the Long Island peninsula in New York, along with his younger sister Elizabeth Grotz Jones. A competitive cross-country runner at St. Anthony’s High School, Al remained an avid runner all his life, racing in 5 and 10Ks as well as several marathons, including the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth.

He came to Texas in 1967 to attend West Texas State University in Canyon, Texas where he was recruited to be on the track team, graduating with a degree in history, and he spent the rest of his life in Texas, living in Amarillo, Houston, Lubbock, and in the Dallas metroplex. For twenty years he was married to Linda Frost Grotz, and they raised two children, Jennifer Lynn Grotz, a published poet and tenured professor at the University of Rochester, and Eric Grotz (who passed away in 2006). In 1999, he married Carolyn Miller Grotz and together they raised their daughter, Sara Miller Urquidez, a petroleum engineer turned college counselor who oversees a college-access program in fifteen DallasISD high schools with the same compassion, patience, and kindness she learned from observing her dad in the classroom. She is married to Dallas attorney Thomas J. Urquidez.

A soft-spoken, quietly spiritual man who also loved to laugh, Al was passionate about American history, golf, and Dalmatians, among many other things. He will be lovingly remembered and dearly missed by his family, friends, and students.