Sparta Celebrates The 100th Birthday Of Betty 'Tootie' Grosch

SPARTA, NJ — Members of the Sparta Township Council honored a longtime resident in advance of her 100th birthday on Oct. 8.

The proclamation from Mayor Christine Quinn on behalf of the council and township, was read at the council’s Tuesday night meeting to recognize Betty “Tootie” Grosch’s 100th Birthday, with the council’s next meeting after her birthday on Oct. 12.

Quinn told Patch that Deputy Mayor Dave Smith will read and deliver the proclamation to Grosch during a special event being held for her on her actual birthday, in Quinn’s place, which falls on the same day that Quinn herself has a family event.

“During a long and productive lifetime, Betty has lived during the most eventful century of this world’s history and has been a force for good, cheerfulness and a stabilizing influence on those around her during these turbulent years,” the proclamation reads.

In that lifetime so far, Grosch was born Betty Maria Maxwell on Oct. 8, 1921 in Madison, Tennessee to Maria McKay Macmillan and Carl Allen Maxwell; and grew up in Teaneck.

Known to many in the area as “Tootie,” Grosch married Harry Vincent Grosch Jr. on Dec. 23, 1940, then had their son Harry Vincent Grosch III, who later served with the U.S. Marine Corps in the Panama Canal when the “Bay of Pigs” invasion happened.

The Grosch family arrived in Sparta to Layton Lane in the late 1950s, where they owned and operated a vegetable and pumpkin stand, adjacent to their farmhouse, which pre-dated the Civil War. They later converted a carriage and ice house on their property to create "Cobweb Corner Antique Shop," where they sold antiques, including furniture, that they had acquired, caned and refinished together.

Among her work and interests above her family life, farming and antique shop, according to the proclamation, Grosch worked as a realtor, artist and graphic artist.

The township encourages residents to mail birthday cards for her to:

Tootie Grosch
The Chelsea
314 Lafayette Road
Sparta, NJ 07871

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.