June 2, 1940 — July 21, 2026

Richard (Dick) Ronald Grokenberger passed away July 21 surrounded by the love of his children and wife. He was the son of Adolf (Don) Grokenberger, born in Germany, and Ardis (Maxine) Howard Grokenberger, born in Michigan.

Richard was born June 2, 1940, in Glendale, California. From an early age he was destined to be a musician. His mother could always hear him coming home from school because he would be singing, LOUDLY. Coming home one day he heard a choir singing in a church. He asked his parents to take him to church so he could hear more singing. There was a Presbyterian church near by, not a Lutheran or Methodist, the former churches of his parents, so Presbyterian it became. From that, Dick became a lifelong Presbyterian and in later years, an officer and a choir member in every Presbyterian church he and Carla were members.

In grade school he and his parents moved to Northern California to join other family members. They landed in Burney where Dick attended grade school and junior high. There was no high school in Burney and he and his friends were sent by bus to Fall River High School. Later, he and his best friend, Bill, drove those mountain roads in an old Studebaker, the trunk packed with firewood to give traction on the snowy roads. While there, Dick sang in the school choir, played tuba in the band and also participated in the cadet program including summer cadet camp. He graduated in 1958.

Richard attended Chico State. He sang in the men’s choir, three years in the a cappella choir and opera workshop. He was also cast in the production of 'Brigadoon' and his taste for musical theater was born. He and Carla met their sophomore year and were cast as opposites in an opera, 'The Old Maid and the Thief.' It was that experience that brought them into closer harmony. They married their junior year of college.

In 1965, the family moved to Fairfield where Dick was the first music teacher at the newly opened Fairfield High School, and where he both named the band, Scarlet Brigade, and chose the uniforms for them. While he was there for just two years the band name and uniforms have found a far-reaching audience and appreciation for the directors who followed.

In the summer of 1967, Dick enlisted in the Army, went through OCS becoming an army officer, May 14, 1968. The military became an integral part of his life. The family lived in Georgia and Kentucky and then Fairfield while Dick spent a year in Vietnam. Upon his return he was sent to Richmond, Virginia, to the Main Recruiting Station for one year. After four years of active duty, he went into the Army Reserves where he served for 24 years. He was awarded a silver star for bravery while in Vietnam.

Coming home, Dick returned to teaching music in the Travis School District, at Golden West Intermediate School and Vanden High School. He is remembered for his holding to a traditional classical curriculum during his music teaching years. Later, he switched to teaching English. He is remembered for playing his guitar for students learning poetry. When his students read 'All Quiet on the Western Front' he took in a large piece of shrapnel from his time in Vietnam, which came close to taking his life, so students could see one of the many dangers soldiers in combat actually experience. He built a large model of the Globe theater, which was on display in the classroom when students studied Shakespeare’s 'Julius Caesar.' When it came time to read some of the Arthur legends, he created a knight for his classroom, including the chain mail that he pieced together link by link. In his home office that knight was Sir Richard, but at school, he was Sir Grokenberger.

During the last several years of teaching Dick picked up his dream of doing musical theater. Later, he said many times that he was a fortunate man to have been able to perform all the roles he wanted to do: Arthur ('Camelot'), John Adams ('1776'), Tony Esposito ('The Most Happy Fella'), Emile de Becque ('South Pacific'), Captain Von Trapp ('Sound of Music'), Charlie Anderson ('Shenandoah'), Adam ('Apple Tree'), as well as to do the musical direction for many shows. He also became a charter member of Solano Winds and a staunch supporter of giving time and talent to the band through his life until recent time.

Family was important to Dick. His three children, Kimberly McBride (Brian), Martha Stout and Christopher Grokenberger (Elizabeth), who are also musicians, survive him along with his wife, Carla Oberst Grokenberger, to whom he was married for 65 years. Also surviving Dick are his six grandchildren, Sean McBride (Erica) Helen Smith (Ryan), Mason Engelmeier (Jana), Amanda Monroe, Allison Herout (Kyle), Keaton Stout, and three great-grandchildren, Otto Engelmeier, Indy Engelmeier, Aria Herout, with two more on the way. He leaves behind many nieces and nephews who remember him playing his guitar and singing at family dinners. At every family gathering, large or small, dinner was preceded by the Doxology, 'Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.' He is also survived by a multitude of extended family friends from church and in the music and theater communities.

Services for Richard will be a military ceremony, 9:30 a.m. Friday, August 21, at the national cemetery in Dixon (for those attending arrive at least 15 minutes early), and a memorial celebration, 3 p.m. Saturday, August 22, at Rockville Presbyterian Fellowship on Suisun Valley Road.