John Gronberg is a life-long resident of the Holland area and his family has ties to the Macatawa area going back to the 1890’s when his grandfather built one of the first cottages in Macatawa on Lake Michigan. For decades, John has been a passionate leader and hard worker at the local, state, national, and international levels to improve the lives of others. Former Rotarian and Past District Governor Tom Bos stated “John is selfless and tireless in his service to our community, the world, and to his friends”.
For the past 47 years, John has been an active member and involved leader of the Holland Rotary Club and Rotary District 6290. John’s volunteer work with Rotary International has significantly improved the quality of life for thousands of people at the local, state, national, and international levels.
John has been President of the local Holland Rotary, District Assistant Governor, Macatawa Region, and District Assistant Governor Coordinator for Rotary District 6290. John has chaired numerous Committees at both a local and District level. He has led dozens of local projects. John (and his wife Bonnie) have been driving forces in building and placing neighborhood “lending libraries” around the Holland area. These are the little houses that shelter donated books. This is just one example of literally dozens of local projects that John has been involved in through Holland Rotary over the past five decades.
On a regional level, John has provided leadership in the Health, Humanitarian, Outreach Project (HHOP) which is a collaboration of several Rotary Clubs, including Holland, Grand Haven, Spring Lake, and Muskegon Rotary Clubs, and others. With John’s leadership and involvement, HHOP has provided water and filters to thousands of families in the Dominican Republic and Honduras. These filters are manufactured in West Michigan and shipped and installed at no charge to families in dire need of clean water.
John has served on the Rotary International Service Committee for many years and traveled extensively around the world to improve living conditions for many in third world countries. To do this John has invested significant personal time and money, and assumed leadership positions in many “for profit” and “non-profit” organizations.
John lives each day following the Rotary 4-Way Test. We have documented just a few examples of John’s contributions to improve the quality of life in Holland and the world. He leads in many ways in the pursuit of helping others and exemplifies the Rotary theme of “service above self”.
John has been just as involved providing action and leadership in many additional areas outside of Rotary. He is the President of the Macatawa Park Cottagers’ Association. John is the “resident historian” of the Macatawa area and an important contributor to the Macatawa Historical Society. Many who have visited the Macatawa area of Holland know of the “Big Red” lighthouse. John became passionately involved in saving the “Big Red” lighthouse over the years and is President of the Holland Harbor Lighthouse Historical Commission “HHLHC”. John and the “HHLHC” have been written up in articles in the Washington Times, USA TODAY, Lighthouse Digest, M-live.com, and several other publications. John is involved with the Great Lakes Lighthouse Alliance and is currently President of the Michigan Lighthouse Alliance. Park Township, Ottawa County recognized John as a 2020 member of the Park Township Spotlight Ward. Park Township created the Spotlight Ward to recognize outstanding achievement and a commitment to the Park Township Community, and represents the highest degrees of honor, integrity, and demonstrated leadership to improve Park Township, our region, and the lives of our residents.