Joel Grotzinger – June 15, 2023

Joel Grotzinger, age 65, passed away on June 15, 2023, after a valiant, four-year battle with advanced prostate cancer. He passed peacefully at his beloved home in Manitou, surrounded by family.

He often spoke fondly of growing up in the small town of Renovo, Pennsylvania. His parents were Joseph and Barbara (Miller) Grotzinger. Joel had six brothers: Mike (deceased), Steve, John, Tim, Dan, and Marty. The Susquehanna River flowed along-side their backyard, so they grew up swimming, boating, camping, and sledding.

Joel found computers fascinating and went on to earn his degree from Erie Business School. He was also valedictorian of his class. Joel was a programmer and manager for the rest of his career and worked for the companies Advacom and Logical in Erie. For the last twenty years he worked for Dynamic Concepts based out of California.

His first marriage was with Tracy Zieg and they had two boys. The eldest, Andrew is married to Chelsea Kilimnik. They both have PhDs in psychology and are professors at CU Boulder. The younger son, Neil resides in Brooklyn, New York and is a fashion designer and teaches at Parsons School of Design. Joel loved them so much and was so very proud of them. They remained loyally by his side for the last many weeks to ensure his comfort.

After his divorce, Joel moved from Monument, Colorado to Manitou Springs, Colorado. Joel met Marjorie Somers there at a wine festival in 2010. They were life partners for twelve years but made it official in 2019. They shared much love, laughter and fun. They were even King and Queen of Manitou’s Carnivale Parade 2022! Joel was a kind and supportive stepfather to Marjorie’s adult children, Jessica and Stephen and a wonderful grandfather to Ava, Iyla and Brynn.

Joel believed in giving to your community. He’d been a member of Sertoma in Monument and joined Kiwanis in Manitou. He initiated and ran the St. Patrick’s Dinner that was at City Hall for many years. Through it, the Kiwanis Club raised many thousands of dollars to vaccinate mothers and babies in Africa against tetanus. This saved many lives. Also, the Kiwanis still talk about the year Joel was president because he shook things up and made it fun!

Joel will be missed by his many friends. His goal was to bring them joyful experiences and to make them feel accepted and special. He kept in touch with old friends and loved to throw costume/karaoke parties for the new friends. Per Joel’s wishes he was cremated and there will be no funeral. Rather we will throw a Celebration of his Life party at our home in Manitou on July 15, 2023, starting at 1:00pm. There will be food, drink, music, dancing, and beads of course. Please join us if you can!