Making life better
Asking Ginger Wyman to talk about her neighbor Harlyn Grote is guaranteed to bring tears to her eyes.
The words came easier in her nominating letter for the man chosen as this year’s North Side Good Neighbor of the Year. She wrote about Grote’s “big, loving heart” and gave this example.
“When my mother was having a fatal heart attack in May 2005,” she wrote, “Harlyn raced over to my house when he saw the ambulance arrive, he held me close and stayed with me while they worked on my mom, and he stayed after they left until my husband arrived.
“I can never repay him for that.”
Neighbors Mary Lou Wolter and her husband, Allen, agree about Grote’s willingness to help in times of trouble.
They’ve lived next door to Grote and his wife, Joan, in the Five Mile area, for 20 years. The Wolters had a small dog named Aabou that they doted on. One day they were told Aabou would have to be put to sleep. When Wolter returned from the vet to bury Aabou on their property, Grote met her with a gift: a tiny casket he’d made in his workshop.
“Harlyn is one of those people you wish you were like,” said Wolter.
In the three and a half years since Wyman moved across the street from the Grotes, she and her husband have suffered the loss of three parents. During that time, Harlyn Grote has been a stalwart, compassionate presence, and a substitute grandfather to their four daughters.
Wyman’s 13-year-old daughter, Maria, said, “He always talks to us when we’re feeling down. He lets us come over and play. I think he’s one of the nicest people in our neighborhood.”
Retired since 1993, Harlyn Grote enjoys woodworking and baby-sitting his great-grandchildren. He believes being a good neighbor makes life better.
“It’s easier when you can holler across the street to your neighbors, instead of hollering at them,” he said.
Zoe Reillo is the Grotes’ newest neighbor. Not long ago, Reillo noticed one of Harlyn Grote’s tomatoes had ripened and pointed it out to him. The next thing she knew, he was at her door, presenting her with the first ripe tomato of the year.
When neighbors need someone to pick up their mail or water their lawn when they’re out of town, they turn to the Grotes. “Harlyn’s always got a smile on his face,” Wyman said.
“He’s an old-fashioned kind of guy,” said neighbor Karen McCann. McCann’s husband travels frequently, and he often helps her with yard work. When she tried to reimburse him for some work he’d done, Harlyn Grote said, “You can’t pay a retired guy!”
Harlyn Grote downplayed his neighbors’ praise.
“It isn’t hard to be a good neighbor when you live in a good neighborhood,” he said.