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Grovesteen steps away from Evansville
Hall of Fame coach helping wife recover from accident
ron grovesteen
Ron Grovesteen stepped away from the Evansville football program after nearly four decades to care for his wife, who is recovering from a life-threatening brain bleed suffered in February. He led the Blue Devils to 283 wins in 37 seasons. - photo by Adam Krebs

EVANSVILLE — After 37 years as Evansville football coach, the team announced June 2 Ron Grovesteen has stepped away. 

Grovesteen said in an email the decision had little to do with football. Instead, it was due to a family medical emergency.

Grovesteen’s wife was working as a substitute physical education teacher at the school, and during a a class late in the day Feb. 17, she fell and hit her head.

“My daughter was called by the school to pick my wife up and take her home while she was picking up her two children from school,” Grovesteen wrote in the email. The daughter noticed her mother was “failing” and took her to the Stoughton Hospital emergency room where a brain bleed was discovered. She was later transported to St. Mary’s in Madison.

“The surgeon told us that my wife needed to have emergency surgery on her brain because the bleeding was increasing,” Grovesteen wrote. “By the grace of God my wife made it through surgery, ICU, extended hospital stay, then a short stay at the Evansville manor before returning home with us before the virus shutdown.”

Grovesteen ends his coaching career with a 283-121 record, 12th in state history in wins. He was a 2001 Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame selection and had led Evansville High School’s football team yearly since 1983. In his last season in 2019, the Blue Devils went 9-2 and made the WIAA Division 4 playoffs and Grovesteen earned co-coach of the year honors in the Rock Valley Conference.

Evansville and Albany had a co-op football program from 1985-2000, and then again from 2012-18. Last year Albany joined Orfordville Parkview for football. The co-op made the postseason 13 times in 22 seasons and reached the D3 state semifinals in 1996. As a solo program under Grovesteen, the program made another 11 postseason appearances, totaling 24 postseason appearances in 37 years, which also included 13 conference titles. The school’s only other playoff appearance was in 1978 when Grovesteen was the assistant to Bob Berezowitz.

“Football continues to hold an important place in my heart and I look forward to what the future holds, but right now my commitment is to my wife to help her through this recovery time and make these next years of our life the best they can be,” Grovesteen wrote.