Public access defibrillation advocate, Jack Grogan, 73, collapsed at the San Jose International Airport on Sunday upon his return from a trip to Washington, D.C. Bystanders immediately started CPR, and Grogan's son, Dale, who was there to meet his father, used a nearby automated external defibrillator (AED). Despite this and immediate response by airport emergency services, resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
Grogan had become active in national, state and local initiatives to raise awareness about SCA following an earlier brush with death in 2002 at the Chicago O’Hare Airport. This time, a passenger and flight attendant revived him with CPR and use of an AED.
Grogan later became an active volunteer with the SCA Survivor Network of the National Center for Early Defibrillation, a program of the University of Pittsburgh from 2000-2005. It was during an NCED meeting in 2004, that he became certified as a CPR-AED instructor.
A strong advocate for public access to defibrillation, Grogan testified before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Congress, and the California Legislature. His efforts in California contributed to passage of legislation that required AEDs in fitness centers and advanced AED programs in schools.
Grogan also served as a volunteer with the San Jose California Fire Department, educating students, business owners and community leaders about SCA prevention, teaching CPR/AED classes to thousands of residents, and advancing the city’s AED program. His unwavering dedication was honored by the SJFD when he received the Devoted Service Award.
A Korean War veteran, Grogan served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps. Upon completion of his military service, he earned a degree in electrical engineering and joined the IBM Corporation, where he worked for 43 years and retired as a “Distinguished Engineer.”
“Jack was a magnanimous, visionary leader who will be sorely missed by everyone who was honored to know him,” said Mary Newman, SCA Foundation president and former executive director of NCED. “He was a true champion whose dedication to the noble cause of raising awareness about SCA was exemplified by his signature phrase, ‘Semper fi.’”
Grogan is survived by his wife, Anita, their four children and six grandchildren.
A funeral Mass for Jack Grogan will be at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, 80 S. Market St., San Jose.
