David Groom joined the club in 1985 as one of its charter members.
The Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise honors the life of charter member David “Dave” Groom, whose friendship, leadership, and humor helped shape our club from its earliest days.
Dave joined the club in 1985 as one of its founding members and remained an active part of Rotary for more than two decades. A natural prankster with a wicked sense of humor, Dave brought energy and fun to club meetings and was known for keeping fellow members laughing. His quick wit and enthusiasm helped create the welcoming fellowship that continues to define our club today.
Dave served as club president during the 1989–1990 Rotary year, left the club in 2006, then moved out of state. Many members were delighted to reconnect with him at the club’s 40th anniversary celebration last year.
Dave will be remembered not only for his dedication to service, but also for the joy and camaraderie he brought to those around him. His impact lives on through the friendships, traditions, and memories he helped create.
View more photos here.
We invited members who knew him to share memories:
“David Groom and I were both charter members of the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise together in 1985 so became Rotary brothers soon after. I remember when he became Club President he asked me to be his year’s Sergeant at Arms. His first day as President he had me dress up as Darth Vader for our meeting. That was a kick. We both had daughters about the same age and we both coached them on the same youth girls soccer league for a few years. That was fun and excellent bonding with our daughters. I remember when I was in my early 40’s and he ask me to join him on a soccer mixed gender team. Here I was chasing down women on the field who were in their 20’s. That didn’t last long since I never caught up to any of them. We had some great memories together.”
E. Russell Smith
“He loaned me a tuxedo for an ocean cruise some years ago.”
Connard Hogan
“I was standing near a creek in Carpinteria with a client. A group of cross dressing runners emerged from the creek. One of those runners was David. He came over to say hi. After he left my client noted that “he has a cute butt” which was interesting since she normally was not interested in men, cute butt or not.
Since Dave liked dressing up, he played me at my step down. He did a masterful job or should I say “ms”-ful job. He lived life enjoying it to the end.”
Joanne Schoenfeld
“In the early days of my Rotary membership, Connard and I bought our house and, of course, needed home insurance. Because David was a Rotarian, I figured he must follow the 4-Way Test and be an honest insurance broker. So, he insured our new house for us and was always attentive, reviewing our coverage every year with us. Of course, he was also a fellow Brit so we had that in common. He was always a fun guy but my best recollection of David was at my step-down as Club President in 2003. Because I collected frogs - especially to use around my office when little Easter Seals kids came by to visit - and had used them as my theme during the year, bringing a different one every Wednesday morning to the meeting, the theme of my step-down was, sort of, fairy-like. I was the princess and David was the Queen of England! He was wearing a dress, pearls and all, with the handbag and gloves to match, and was speaking kind of like Queen Elizabeth II. It was outrageous and lots of fun.
Rest in peace, David!”
Janet Napier
As part of the Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise's 25th anniversary celebration (2010), all club Presidents were invited to share memories for a commemorative booklet. Dave shared his recollections of serving as club president during the 1989–1990 Rotary year.
So the theme of my year was 'Enjoy Rotary' and at that time I certainly took that seriously. In fact it should have been 'Enjoy Life'!
It really started in Seoul Korea with my International Convention, an amazing experience as I'm sure all Presidents feel. However I think the most memorable part of my Presidency was our trip to Celaya Mexico. It was a chance to help with surgeries in our sister city, raise some money and bring supplies to the children's hospital there, but also get to know some of the members of the Rotary Clubs of Celaya, particularly the ladies!! It was also a chance to get to know the members of my own club a little better and see our surgeons, Mike Paveloff and John Padilla at work. After Celaya we were fortunate enough to visit San Miguel de Allende for the annual running of the bulls. A scary adventure in the streets watching young matadors from the City trying to make a name for themselves, before being tossed in the air by a very annoyed bull! We were much closer to the action than we ever anticipated, a few feet separating our stomachs from a passing bulls horns. The following trip to the Bull Ring to witness the professionals preparing our steaks for the night was, unfortunately a part of Mexican life that I still don't understand. I was cheering for the bulls!!
Wait...was that even my year?? Who cares, it's still an everlasting memory, along with a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Group Study Exchanges, housing Rotary Scholars, donating money raised from our golf tournament to the many youth charities in the area. Polio Plus, and the fellowship enjoyed every week when I was privileged to be able to stand up in front of the 55 members and call the meetings to order. My life was busy at that time, a new business running a bed and breakfast, coaching soccer and softball for my 9 and 11 year old, running an insurance agency and trying to help my wife around the house, but I still 'Enjoyed Rotary' and will continue to remember the good times I had with some of the best people Santa Barbara has to offer.
Congratulations on making 25 years’ worth of meaningful contributions to our Community and communities around the world!
Enjoy Rotary, and Enjoy Life!!
Past President David Groom 1989/1990