James "Jim" Groves Obituary

James “Jim” Warner Groves died at his home in Chichester, NH, in comfort, surrounded by family on Thursday, October 23, 2025, at the age of 75. Born on May 2, 1950, to E. Stuart and Doris (Clogston) Groves, in Nashua, NH, Jim was a loving soul from the beginning. His early life experiences, particularly the loss of his mother when he was just six years old, shaped him into the man he would become. His childhood was not without a maternal figure. His father remarried to Sheila Groves, who did her best to give Jim a mother’s love and fill the shoes of the mother he had lost. While Jim always remained grateful for Sheila, the loss of his mom at such a young age taught Jim the importance of familial bonds, a lesson he took to heart throughout his life. Jim dedicated himself to nurturing close and loving relationships with his family, particularly with his wife, Ann (Pinard) Groves, and their son, Shannon Groves. And as his family grew over the years, he continued to show that deep and abiding love to his daughter-in-law, Maria (Mandile) Groves.

Jim was that rare type of person who could make friends anywhere and everywhere, and once you were Jim’s friend, you were a friend for life. This quintessential part of Jim is exemplified in his lifelong childhood friendship with Ronnie Le Clair, and the yearly reunions that began over the last ten years with the crew of the USS Enterprise, with whom he served alongside in the US Navy from 1968-1972. It’s seen in the card group that he met with once a month for “Dealer’s Choice Poker” for 30+ years, and it lives on in his golfing friendship with Joe Hayes and Bob McDougal of Toronto, whom Jim and Shannon met during their last round of golf while on a trip in Myrtle Beach. That day was kismet, bringing four tourists from two different countries together, who, over the course of a round of golf followed by dinner, began a twenty-year friendship that took them to golf tournaments across the US.

Ironically, those golf trips were some of the only times Jim was ever seen dressed up, and only because there was a strict dress code to maintain. To the occasional frustration of his wife, he spent his life in blue jeans, paired with either a polo or t-shirt. Even on date nights. The thing was, Jim simply didn’t take life too seriously. He lived it to the fullest, filling his life with jokes, adventure, and love. Although, not always capable of showing it, Jim felt deeply for people in need and dedicated his time to the people and causes he cared about. This authenticity and passion became his trademark, a lasting imprint upon all who knew him.

Jim imparted these traits upon his son, Shannon, with whom he shared a close relationship. Always there to give sage advice, Jim told Shannon, a fresh high school graduate at the time, “Son, you’ve spoken about hiking the Appalachian Trail for years. Now is your chance to go.” Jim knew that as time went on, and the realities of adult life set in, Shannon’s window of freedom to follow that dream would only get smaller. Shannon took his advice and started on his 2,200-mile hike. On the final day of Shannon’s excursion, Jim joined him on an exhausting journey up Mount Katahdin in Maine that took from 6 am until well after dark. This trip was only one of many adventures for the Groves family.

During the course of their 50-year marriage, Ann and Jim travelled to 40 of the 50 US states. Since Jim hated driving on highways, most of those trips were spent in the car, taking the winding path of backroads throughout their travels. Jim was so avoidant of highways, there were times Ann was afraid to even get in the car with him for a simple grocery run. Especially, after a particularly memorable trip to the store to go buy bread, which ended up becoming a 5-day long “adventure.” But, more often than not, road trips were a beautiful cornerstone of their life together. From whale-watching Alaskan cruises to the natural wonders of Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, and across the Badlands of the Dakotas, Jim’s forays across America imbued their life with joie de vivre.

He was a man unabashed by his passion for life, bringing a sense of wonder and mirth to everything he did, especially in the kitchen. As a self-made “food scientist,” Jim found joy in cooking, in discovering and concocting interesting recipes for the people around him. He filled their kitchen with enough cookbooks to stock a small library and spent time watching YouTube cooking channels like America’s Test Kitchen and Bobby Flay. And as Bobby Flay once said, “Cooking is a subject you can never know enough about. There is always something new to discover."

While known for his BBQ and Baklava, Jim experimented with many dishes and never made the same recipe the same way twice. Always adding or subtracting ingredients and methods, he made it impossible to recreate any dish he ever served. He put his own flair on it, and while this usually resulted in something tasty, sometimes his culinary experiments were borderline inedible. But it didn’t matter if an experiment failed, his instinctual response would be to laugh it off and make a joke, happy to simply have been in the kitchen and bring people together over a meal.

Loving his family was at the heart of everything he did. He went out of his way to bring people together, even during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Jim and his family would gather in empty parking lots, spacing the cars out in social distancing bubbles, and using a combination of cell phones and loudspeakers, they stayed connected in a world that favors individualism. This loyal love wasn’t just reserved for his family. Jim loved all the children in his life. He wasn’t just an amazing father, he was an entertaining uncle who took the time to play with the nieces and nephews. They particularly enjoyed it when he tossed them high in the air into the lake. And despite knowing nothing about sports, became the assistant baseball coach for the local Little League team when no one else stepped up. Also, he helped raise money for children by volunteering for The Kiwanis Club.

It’s hard to say if Jim fully realized what a lasting impact he made on every person he met, but one thing is for sure, he was a man who loved deeply and was loved just as ferociously in return. In the words of Oscar Wild, “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, and that is all.” 

But Jim Groves, he really lived.

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Jim is preceded in death by his parents, E. Stuart and Doris (Clogston) Groves; his stepmother, Sheila Groves; sister, Judith Rollins; and brother Stuart Groves. He is survived by his loving wife, Ann (Pinard) Groves; son, Shannon Groves, and his wife, Maria Noel Groves; brothers Bob and Tom; and his many friends.

Jim’s family kindly asks that you remember him by keeping your family close, enjoying your time with each other, and by taking the time to cook a meal to share. A memorial gathering and service will be held for Jim on November 14, 2025, at 11 am in the Southwest Room of the Phaneuf Funeral Home/The Cremation Society of New Hampshire, on 243 Hanover St. in Manchester, followed by a celebration from 1:30-4:00 pm in The Puritan Backroom Pappas/Canotas Room. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Granite VNA and the Slusser Center, 30 Pillsbury St., Concord, NH 03301, or donate online by visiting www.granitevna.org/donate. Assisting the family with arrangements is The Cremation Society of New Hampshire, Boscawen. To view Jim's Online Tribute, send condolences to the family, or for more information, visit www.csnh.com.