Deacon Clyde Grover’s death came as a shock to the community but the legacy he left in the hearts and minds of students and teachers will live forever. 

Having served in the Air Force for 18 years, Grover brought that same discipline as chair of the theology department, being known for running a tight ship.

“He managed the department very closely, but that was his style and he did it out of love and care,” theology teacher Joseph Welch said.

Grover would always be direct and express what was on his mind, standing up for what he saw as the fabric of the McGuinness community: faith. 

“He would always tell you what was on his mind, his hopes and fears for any suggestions that were there,” principal David Morton said. “Sometimes he and I would engage in, what should I say, verbal combat.”

Though being that strong and decisive voice in any meeting committee or classroom could lead to some discourse, he always made sure that everyone knew it was out of love.

“No matter what, whenever he walked out of a meeting, as he’s walking out the door. He would always say, ‘remember I love you.’ And so we could, we could share our differences, but still know that we had a special relationship,” Morton said.

Grover helped to steer the department towards relating better to students, realizing that theology might not be their main academic interest. He also took on the challenge of hiring and training all of the theology teachers, including all those still teaching today, guiding them towards achieving their full potential.

“He was very instrumental the first couple years in not forcing me, but guiding me into teaching tactics that worked for him,” sophomore theology teacher Peter McConnell said.

Through his 23 years at the school, Grover worked as a counselor and an economics teacher, before moving on to theology and becoming a Deacon in 2009. Though Grover taught all the theology courses at one time or another he had two favorites: world religion and Catholic social justice teachings. Because of his love of connecting theology to the real world, teaching the more mature seniors how to apply their faith and how to relate it to others around the world, is where he felt he had the most impact.

Summed up, Grover was the heart and soul of theology at McGuinness, working to educate and strengthen the understanding of students and teachers alike.

“I think he was charged with being the gatekeeper for Catholic identity, and so, professionally that’s what’s going to go down as his legacy over the last 20 years,” Welch said.

Apart from his value to the school community as a teacher, Grover’s lasting impact will be the way he loved his fellow teachers and students and even more importantly, his family. 

“They’re tight knit in love and they’re tight knit in togetherness,” Welch said about the Grover family.

All five of his children graduated from McGuinness and went on to jobs in the field of public service. His most important role was father, father to his children but also a father of the school community. 

“He was that second father to us, and he was that work father,” McConnell said.

In remembrance of Grover, his family started a scholarship in his name, tagged by the moniker #LovelikeClyde and the theology wing will now bear his name for years to come. 

“To me, loving like Clyde means keeping each other accountable in a very, very loving way,” Campus Minister Kelly Allen said.