Former county extension agent remembered

By Aaron Lee

Published: March 28, 2008

Former Nelson County extension agent Lynn Grosz has died after being critically injured in a February car accident.

In her late 50s, Grosz got a job as a 4-H agent in the Nelson County Extension Office and for four years was involved with developing programs for kids ages four to 19.

Erin Hughey-Commers worked closely with Grosz in 2005-2006 as an intern with the Nelson extension office.

“A lot of people considered her a second mother,” Hughey-Commers said. “I certainly had that experience with her.”

Grosz left the extension office in 2006.

Grosz also took dulcimer lessons for two years from Dinah Ansley, who played the instrument for Grosz during a recent hospital visit.

“I was playing (the dulcimer) and she saw me and said, ‘I have one of those, but I don’t know what to do with it,’” Ansley said of Grosz.

A former Peace Corp volunteer in Liberia, Grosz also worked with the Oakland Museum board helping with event planning and fund raising. She also was active in Keep Nelson Beautiful, a group that combats litter in the county, and served on the county’s social services board.

Originally from Sheboygan, Wisc., Grosz moved to Nelson with her late husband, Ron, in the mid-1990s. Grosz lived in the Shipman area.

“She used to say she like to ‘Make magic happen’ in people’s lives,” Hughey-Commers said. “I think she did that in a lot of people’s lives.”

Grosz was traveling south on U.S. 29 in Nelson County on Feb. 20 when her 2003 Subaru Forester was struck on the passenger side by a 2005 Freightliner tractor-trailer.

Grosz was trying to cross the northbound lane onto Virginia 6 east when she was hit, a Virginia State Police report said.

After being hit, her car veered into another parked vehicle before coming to rest against a tree, authorities said.

The accident happened around 9:30 p.m. and Grosz was wearing her seatbelt, authorities said.

Grosz was taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center in critical condition and died on Mar. 20.

There will be a private ceremony in May for her family, close friends and colleagues on her property in Shipman, according to her obituary.

Sarah Jane Stewart worked with Grosz on several community boards, including the one at the Rockfish Valley Community Center.

“She had a great sense of community,” Stewart said. “ She really had a positive energy in her soul ...you could never misjudge her good intentions.”

Connie Brennan also worked on community boards with Grosz and described her as “always a ray of sunshine.”

“She was so optimistic and peaceful,” Brennan said.

As a child, Marcie Martinez learned about gardening and canning vegetables from Grosz.

“As age progresses, normally people slow down,” Martinez said. “Nothing slowed Lynn down.”

Martinez’s voicemail greeting on her phone is currently a brief homage to Grosz.

“Today I am free/ Today I am me/ Today is a gift that I shall share with thee/ To love, to life, to you,” the message reads.