Roger Grooters, Sept. 10, 2010 Roger Grooters’ bicycle ride across the country to raise awareness and funds for Gulf oil spill victims was a fitting metaphor for his life.

“My dad was always on the move,” Grooters’ son, Cole, said during Monday’s tearful funeral service at Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church. Several hundred people gathered there to honor the memory of this adventurous man who was killed Wednesday, Oct. 6 near Southpoint in Bay County as he neared the final leg of his 3,200- mile cross-country bike ride.

“Even after retirement, he stayed on the move,” Cole continued. “His heart wanted to keep going. He was always looking for that next journey.”

Grooters, 66, died doing something he loved. Frustrated after being denied by BP the opportunity to volunteer for local beach cleanup necessitated by the April 20 Gulf oil spill, Grooters decided to bike across America to bring attention to those still suffering from the crisis.

Two days after a well-deserved break in Gulf Breeze, Grooters was riding a durable touring bicycle eastbound on the paved shoulder of State Road 20 about 100 miles from Gulf Breeze when a 2006 Chevrolet pickup driven by 41-year-old Eddie R. Hogg of Molino inexplicably entered the paved shoulder, striking the rear of Grooters’ bike.

The impact knocked Grooters into the ditch paralleling the roadway. Hogg brought his vehicle to a controlled stop on the south shoulder of the road. Washington County emergency medical personnel responded to the incident and pronounced Grooters deceased.

Charges were pending further investigation.

Word of Grooters’ death spread through Gulf Breeze like wildfire. Family, friends and church colleagues were stunned and sickened by the news. Media outlets from across the country reported the tragedy. Some media outlets sent reporters to Monday’s funeral. The community as a whole was numbed.

“In these last few days, as Roger made this journey across the nation, we all rooted for him,” Rev. Shane Stanford said during his Eulogy for Grooters. “We all wanted him to succeed because in him succeeding we knew that we were succeeding. He had called us to attention to respond to those who were hurting because of the oil spill.

“He was always on a journey. He was always trying to go somewhere, to accomplish some task, something that was in his heart or his responsibility or passion. . . . He saw a need he wanted to respond to and make a difference for others.”

The journey, which Grooters was chronicling in an Internet blog, started Sept. 10 in Oceanside, Calif. The total distance was altered to be about 2,700 miles. Grooters was about 300 miles from his Atlantic Ocean destination when tragedy occurred.

“Many of us questioned, ‘Why?’” Stanford said. “I’m not sure Roger would question, ‘Why?’ I think he would take it, take life and face it and try to make the best of the situation. That was just his nature.”

Though Grooters’ personal earthly life abruptly ended, his life and legacy will live on.

“This terrible accident did not take Roger’s life,” said Rev. Jack Kale, who conducts GBUMC’s weekly Worship on the Water ministry on Pensacola Beach. Grooters and his wife, Vicki, were among Kale’s audience Oct. 3 after they had traveled through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

“We all face death one day,” Kale continued. “It might sneak up on us like a thief in the night; sometimes we see it coming a long way off. But this didn’t take his life; it only took his death. His life was in Jesus Christ, his family, the programs and universities where he served across the country. Every time one of his children or grandchildren, or the many athletes he touched through a remarkable career achieves success or sacrifices for the good of others, Roger lives on.”

Grooters retired in 2008 as executive director of Louisiana State University’s Academic Center for Student Athletes. Prior to that, he devoted his career to building student academic programs for athletes at major universities including Nebraska, Florida State, Michigan State, Southern Cal and Arizona. He also once worked for the U.S. government trying to spread athletics to Third World countries.

Grooters’ wife was traveling with Roger in a support vehicle when the tragedy occurred. Florida Highway Patrol investigators have yet to reveal what prompted Hogg’s vehicle to suddenly leave the roadway and strike Grooters. Hogg is said to be devastated by the accident.

On Tuesday, Oct. 5, his 21st day of riding, Grooters started in west Pensacola and ended the day 100 miles away in Ebro, northwest of Panama City. The route took him through Destin. According to his blog, Grooters’ total mileage at that point was 2,179 miles. His goal was to reach Jacksonville on Oct. 9, where family and friends were to gather for a celebration marking the trip’s completion.

Grooters’ obituary hints that some of his seven children might soon resume their dad’s bike journey to Jacksonville, ending with dipping a bike’s front wheel into the Atlantic Ocean.

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Meanwhile, the Northwest Florida Wheelmen cycling club will stage a silent bike ride in Grooters’ honor on Sunday morning, Oct. 17. The group will depart the Flounder’s Restaurant parking lot at approximately 10:30 a.m., following completion of the Worship on the Water service. All are welcome and encouraged to participate.

SUPPORT ROGER’S RIDE ACROSS AMERICA

The family of Roger Wayne Grooters requests that donations be made in honor of his bike ride across America by visiting www.gbumc.org. Click on the “Give Now” link. Fill out the form with “Oil Spill Response” in the ‘other’ category or mail a check to Gulf Breeze UMC and note “Oil Spill Response” on the donation. Mailing address: Gulf Breeze UMC, 75 Fairpoint Drive, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561. To learn more, call 932-3594.