A life in motion: Groskinsky keeps finding the next chapter

Before entering the Army, Groskinsky remembered seeing a former high school acquaintance sitting at a bar, wearing his old letter jacket. Bob told him he was leaving for the military. Nearly two years later, Groskinsky returned and encountered the man again. He was sitting on essentially the same barstool, still wearing that letter jacket.

Groskinsky had spent those two years going through basic training, becoming a military policeman and serving in Panama. The contrast stayed with him. He realized he had changed, gone somewhere and accomplished something. And he already knew he wanted to remain in law enforcement.

What he did not know was exactly how to get there. A Wisconsin State Trooper he knew advised him that civilian law enforcement would require additional education and state certification, so Groskinsky enrolled at NCTC/Wausau in 1977.

Even that step almost did not happen. After applying, he received a letter telling him the class was full and he would have to wait another year. Groskinsky had only recently returned from military service and was eager to begin the next chapter, so he sought help through the local Veterans Administration office. Within days, he had been admitted.

Then, on his first day of class, another opportunity appeared. An instructor asked whether anyone in the room had previous military or law-enforcement experience. Groskinsky had both. The instructor told him the Edgar Police Department was looking for officers and suggested he stop there. Groskinsky did so on the way home.

He recalls sitting down with Police Chief Calvin Ledbetter for what amounted to an impromptu interview. Before long, Groskinsky had been issued a uniform and equipment, taken to the clerk’s office and sworn in. His civilian law-enforcement career had begun.

For the next two years, Groskinsky balanced police work in Edgar with classes, state certification and completion of his associate degree. Then came Marshfield.

On Aug. 13, 1979, Groskinsky joined the Marshfield Police Department. The department — and police work itself — would change dramatically during the years that followed. Early squad cars were little more than regular automobiles adapted for police service. Radios were large, and emergency lighting drew enough power that officers sometimes had to leave squad cars running to keep batteries charged. Early in his career, Groskinsky sometimes literally walked the beat.

Over time came improved communications, specialized police vehicles, computers, Tasers and more formal systems for training new officers. Groskinsky took on a variety of responsibilities along the way, including work as a field training officer, range officer, auxiliary liaison officer and SWAT team leader.

What remained consistent was the importance he placed on the people around him. He remembers fellow officers, supervisors and mentors not simply as coworkers, but as part of a team that had to rely on one another.

He also came to appreciate the difference between military and civilian law enforcement. The Army taught him command structure and the importance of following orders. Police work could require something different — officers discussing options, sharing ideas and then working together toward the same goal.

“You have structure everywhere,” Groskinsky said. When that structure works, he said, people can enjoy coming to work. For most of his Marshfield career, he did.

Groskinsky retired from the department on Dec. 1, 2006. For many people, that might have been enough public service for one lifetime.

For Bob, retirement became another beginning. Other officers he knew had worked overseas on international police missions, and the idea interested him. “I still had a lot of experience I could share,” he recalled.

His international work eventually took him to Pristina, Kosovo. He initially worked in information technology before moving into Internal Affairs and eventually serving as Chief Internal Affairs.

The environment required more than police experience. International officers had to understand different cultures, customs and expectations while working within a multinational command structure. Groskinsky said his Army training, police career and support from his family all helped prepare him for the work.

“I would not have been able to do that work there without the training,” he said.

Later came Haiti, where Groskinsky served as Regional Commander of the Sud Region, the, southern region of the country. He had been in Haiti only six days when the devastating 2010 earthquake struck. The experience left him with memories of a country facing challenges unlike anything he had previously encountered.

His years overseas also reinforced something that had begun decades earlier in the Army: experiences build on one another, and lessons learned in one stage of life can unexpectedly become useful in another.

For Groskinsky, military service led to civilian law enforcement. Police work eventually led to international service. Even after all of that, he still was not finished trying new things.

Today, almost 70, Groskinsky remains active in veterans organizations, community activities and travel.

Recently, another unexpected chapter began.

Groskinsky appeared as a porter in the historical film Adler, directed by Freddy Moyano. The project gave him an opportunity to participate in telling a piece of Marshfield history.

“I’m part of Marshfield history,” Groskinsky joked when first approached about appearing in the film. “I’m old enough now that you can consider me as history.”

The experience also introduced him to filmmaking and to people willing to devote their time to bringing local stories to the screen. Groskinsky said what impressed him most was their dedication.

From there came another role. He has been cast as FBI Special Agent Frank Kessler in the television series Stark County — a fictional role that allows a retired police officer to draw from decades of real-world experience. Then came another first.

At the Scene Awards film festival in Green Bay, Groskinsky picked up a microphone and began interviewing actors, directors and producers. The transition felt surprisingly natural. Police officers, after all, spend careers talking to people, asking questions and trying to understand the information in front of them.

“You’ve got a goal of where you want to go with the interview,” Groskinsky said. “What you do is slowly direct the person to that goal.”

Those interviews developed into a new series, Big Bob On the Scene.

When asked what kind of people he would like to interview, Groskinsky did not name celebrities. “I think everyone has a story,” he said.

It could be the farmer down the road. It could be the mechanic at the garage. What matters, he said, is that people have experiences worth sharing — and other people want to hear them. That idea may explain Groskinsky’s own story as well.

A teenager from a hobby farm near Milladore once lost a construction job and went looking for another direction. That direction led through the Army, Panama, Edgar, Marshfield, Kosovo and Haiti. Now it has led onto movie sets and behind a microphone.

Years after returning from military service, Groskinsky still remembers that former high school acquaintance sitting on essentially the same barstool where he had seen him before leaving. He later said the experience likely helped shape his determination not to spend his own life sitting still.

That philosophy remains visible today.

Groskinsky has little patience for the idea that age should prevent someone from beginning again. “If you’re still breathing,” he said, “you’re able to do something.”

Older people, he believes, carry years of experience that should not be underestimated. As for what keeps him willing to step into whatever comes next, his explanation is simpler still.

“My heart is still beating,” Groskinsky said. “I will continue to do new and different things.”

Then he added the line that may summarize the entire journey.

“I enjoy life.”

David J. Falkosky Sr. is a U.S. Air Force Gulf War veteran who has lived in Central Wisconsin for nearly all of his life.