Sonoma County veterinarian, community leader Fred Groverman dies

Dr. Fred Groverman, a Petaluma native and an institution in Sonoma County agriculture, died Feb. 12 at home. He was 88.

Groverman, a longtime veterinarian and rancher in south Sonoma County, spent his entire life on a 50-acre parcel between Petaluma and Penngrove, raising the world’s oldest registered flock of Shropshire sheep while making his mark on the agricultural community – and beyond.

He was a volunteer firefighter and school board member, he was on the hospital board that got Petaluma Valley Hospital built and he helped established the Sonoma County 4-H Foundation, ushering waves of youth into the county’s agricultural ranks.

The result? A Sonoma County Farm Bureau Hall of Fame induction – jointly, with his late wife, Pat – and a community packed with people who knew, respected and loved Fred Groverman. That was perhaps never more apparent than earlier this week, when Judy Walker, one of Groverman’s four children, took to Facebook to share the news of his passing.

Walker, who said she grew up thinking every family was involved in multiple boards, committees and other volunteer efforts, called the community response to Groverman’s passing “amazing.”

“I saw him as a veterinarian and a volunteer fireman,” said Walker. “He was always involved in trying to make the community better.”

Lynge Simone, Groverman’s wife of the past eight years, said funeral services are set for 1 p.m. March 5, at Parent-Sorensen Mortuary and Crematory, 850 Keokuk St. A larger, public celebration of Groverman’s life is planned for 1 p.m. April 23, at Herzog Hall in the Petaluma Fairgrounds.

The hall holds 900 people, and that capacity was a key reason for its selection, Simone said in a phone interview this week. She also offered plenty of praise for her late husband, as she listed off decades of accomplishments, pausing several times to say, “I’m a pretty proud wife.”

Simone originally met Groverman when she worked at the Cotati veterinary hospital he co-founded with Bill Kortum, saying she was lucky to work with both men, pillars of south Sonoma County.

Groverman worked as a vet in Cotati, in some capacity, until 2015, and he kept his skills sharp volunteering his services at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds to vet check the livestock each year.

Along the way, Groverman tended to his flock of Shropshire sheep, a breed that originated in England during the 1840s. Groverman’s flock would eventually become the oldest registered flock in the world, and in the past several years, he has worked with others to share that gift with ranchers in Oregon, Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, New York, Connecticut and Ohio, selling registered Shropshires to others looking to carry on the tradition.

He also served for a time as the campus veterinarian for Sonoma State University, where he was also on the president’s advisory board for nearly two decades. If you’re getting the impression that Groverman was involved in a little bit of everything, you’d be right.

“When I grew up, I didn’t realize everybody else’s parents weren’t the same as my parents,” Judy said. “We grew up volunteering, and Dad was always involved in one board or another.”

Petaluma and Sonoma County was his birthplace, but Groverman, who attended Waugh Elementary School, Petaluma Junior High and Petaluma High School, made it his home.

Born Dec. 30, 1933, to parents Bernard Groverman and Ida Petersen, Fred eventually obtained his veterinary degree from University of California Davis.

He married Patricia “Pat” Humble June 20, 1957, and the couple welcomed children Karen, James, Judy and William while cementing their place in Sonoma County agriculture for more than 50 years, before Pat died in 2012. Groverman had six grandchildren as well.

Perhaps Groverman’s proudest accomplishment, Simone says, is his work as a member of the Petaluma Valley Hospital board, where he quite literally secured funding to build the Hospital, flying to New York to seal the deal on a loan. Groverman Hall is named in his honor.

Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt, a former Petaluma City Council member, called Groverman “a force within the youth ag community,” including FFA and 4-H, thanks to his countless hours volunteering and mentoring.

“I had many interactions with Fred over the years, and his passion for Sonoma County and in particular agriculture was always evident,” Rabbitt said. “He will be missed. We lost another stalwart of ag in the county with Fred’s passing.”

Tyler Silvy is editor of the Petaluma Argus-Courier. Reach him at tyler.silvy@arguscourier.com, 707-776-8458, or @tylersilvy on Twitter.