Richard Groth
16 Rabbits Run, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
585-509-3311

Biography

Right up till graduation in 1960, I had no idea of what I wanted to do. At the last moment, our guidance counselor, Miss Joint I think, convinced me to go to R.I.T. in their Electrical Engineering School. I really was looking forward to being out of school, but decided to give it a try. There was too much fun to be had, and after 1 year I was out of school again. I went to work at some non-descript jobs, and by late 1962 I was married and had new son. A second son came along in 1964, and by then I had taken a job as a programmer for metal fabricating company in Rochester. I went back to school nights at R.I.T. for several years and eventually graduated from their Mechanical Engineering Dept.

The fabricating company was a small family owned business, and a cousin of the owner, whose name was Bob Ade, was Vice President of the company. In 1968, the owner of the company decided to sell the company to a locally owned company in downtown Rochester, much to the dismay of Mr. Ade and the other employees. A group of the employees came up with an idea to start a new company and approached Mr. Ade to be the president. Mr. Ade was thrilled with the idea, and shortly thereafter a company called Metalade was formed with about 18 of the former employees of the old company, who were all stockholders. I started my years with Metalade as VP of Sales, and began beating the bushes looking for work for the company.

After about 10 years, Mr. Ade retired, and I took over as president. Gradually over the years, as employees died or retired, the company purchased back their stock. Over the course of almost 40 years, we grew from a little shop to a group of 4 companies in the late 90's with over 500 hundred employees and locations in Rochester, Erie, PA, Salem, NH and Orlando, FL. By 1999, it was time to start slowing down, so I began to sell off the non Rochester locations. I sold the largest location in Erie, PA in 2000 and sold the last plant in Rochester in 2014. So at this point I really am retired.

My first marriage ended in 1975, and I was remarried to my wife Joyce (with me pictured above) in 1977. Joyce had 2 daughters from her first marriage, and one was 8 and the other was 16. One daughter is married and has a son who is 23 and is finishing his Masters Degree in Sports Management. My older son has two children, a boy who grauduated from college in 2009 and was in China teaching english to Chinese students, but now is back in Rochester, and a daughter who lives in Charlotte, NC and has two children making me a great grandfather. My younger son lives in Farmington, NY and is not married. He is the IT Director for Yates County. My older son works for a company in Rochester.

My wife and I became Florida residents in 1993, and are full time residents in Florida these days. Rochester still feels like home, and I hope to visit there whenever I can. I keep very busy with lots of hobbies such as golf, ham radio and piloting my own plane.

Getting together with old friends for some of our mini-reunions and picnics is always fun, and I look forward to our 60th reunion in 2022 since Covid delayed it a year. Working with Al Packard on this web site has been fun and educational, and it is a great way to stay connected with all of us who are scattered around the nation.

Best Regards to all.

Expensive Hobby

Great Grandchildren