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- The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
January 23, 1997
Retired Riverside Superior Court Judge George G. Grover was described as being such a friendly and helpful jurist that he often would take a confused person he encountered outside a courtroom into his chambers and help them fill out their legal paperwork.
Judge Grover, a longtime Corona resident who had been suffering from cancer, died Wednesday morning in Corona Regional Medical Center. He was 74.
News of his death spread quickly through Riverside's Hall of Justice where many Riverside judges and attorneys remembered him with fond stories of his calm demeanor and sincere concern for people trying to find answers in a complex legal system. "Judge Grover was the most decent, kindest human being I've ever had contact with," said U.S. District Court Judge Robert Timlim of Riverside, who knew and served with the judge for many years. "He was a brilliant person, an excellent bench officer and excellent lawyer," Timlin said.
Judge Grover, who retired from the bench in 1990 after serving 14 years, graduated with honors from the University of Southern California and its law school after serving as an Army officer during World War II.
Born in Aspen, Colo., Judge Grover served as a clerk for California Supreme Court Justice Roger J. Traynor, and then served as a senior deputy attorney general before he entered private practice in Corona in 1967. He was appointed to the Riverside bench in 1976. While in private practice, Judge Grover became an expert on water issues.
Retired Riverside Superior Court Judge Elwood Rich, a close friend and colleague, described Judge Grover as a true champion for people representing themselves in court with little money or legal knowledge. "George would go out of his way to help people by filing papers. If there wasn't an available clerk, he'd take the guy into his chambers and sit down at the typewriter and type the papers himself. George knew shorthand, and somewhere he learned how to type really well," Rich said. "George was just a comfortable old shoe and a real down-to-earth type. He was so pleasant on the bench that if anybody disagreed with his rulings they could never get mad at him."
Judge Ronald Taylor, presiding judge of the county's consolidated court system, said a special memorial is being planned by the county's bench to remember Judge Grover. "He went out of his way to make the court accessible. He was a very, very compassionate man," Taylor said.
Judge Grover was known among lawyers for his three-page list of "lawyerisms" that he would pull out when some attorney used a confusing legal term that the judge would translate into common English, often creating gales of laughter from courtroom spectators and momentary embarrassment to the chastened attorney. "He always remained calm on the bench and good-natured through all his rulings," remembered Deputy District Attorney John Davis.
Survivors include his 101-year-old father, Charles of La Canada Flintridge; his wife, Leonie of Corona; a daughter, Adrienne Finch of Carmel, and a sister, Barbara Grover of La Canada Flintridge. Funeral arrangements are pending.
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1922 - 1997 (74 years)
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