Grossheim recalled as a dedicated public servant

KABETOGAMA- By Tuesday, the news of 55-year-old Voyageurs National Park Ranger Kevin Grossheim’s tragic but heroic death during an attempt to bring three campers to safety through the treacherous waves of wind-whipped Namakan Lake on Sunday had gone national, with major news outlets and wire services spreading the story far and wide. Social media was filled with accolades and condolences. Flags were flying at half-staff at national parks, Minnesota state buildings, and at many private homes and businesses in honor of the ultimate sacrifice given by a law enforcement ranger in the line of duty.
It’s a tribute well-deserved, but unfamiliar for a man who in most accounts is described as quiet, unassuming, and humble, who mostly preferred being out of the spotlight when doing his job in the park or helping in his hometown of Kabetogama.
“He did many, many things that really nobody knows about,” said Kabetogama friend and neighbor Betsey Warrington. “He was just always that kind of guy. He was always willing to help and was quiet, stayed in the background, didn’t toot his own horn ever at all. He was just such a valuable member of our community.”
At the park
Grossheim was a member of the park’s “old guard,” those folks who’ve made working at VNP their life’s work, and according to park superintendent Bob DeGross, Grossheim was right where he belonged.
“His career was 28-years long with the National Park Service, and 23 years of that was here at Voyageurs,” DeGross said. “From my conversations with him, and of course, I can’t speak for him, but I think that’s because he found his place here. He truly loved Voyageurs.”
VNP Wildlife Biologist Steve Windels, another of the park’s old timers, reflected on Grossheim’s work.
“I’ve worked with Kevin since I got to Voyageurs in July 2003 – we are some of the last remnants of that era,” Windels said. “Kevin was always the guy who was there to help, always the guy who had his eyes and ears open to what was going on. Even though he was a little shy, I would describe him as a people person. He loved boat training every year. He enjoyed meeting people and more importantly wanted to make sure they had what they needed. The amazing thing about Kevin is that he never stopped putting other people first because that was his job, to make sure others were safe.”
He took a shine in particular to the park’s seasonal staff and volunteers, knowing they would need some of his knowledge of the park, and in particular the Namakan basin, knowledge that was as wide and deep as the waters he patrolled.
“He has taken many of the seasonal staff and volunteers on tours of the park to help them become more familiar with the area and better be able to answer visitors’ questions,” said VNP Program Manager for Interpretation, Outreach and Partnerships Kate Severson. “Kevin’s name was mentioned to me several times by the volunteers and seasonal rangers when I first started. They said he was the person to go to to get things fixed at the Kabetogama Visitor Center, that he had beautiful photos of the park to share for our social media pages, and that he would be the best person to show me around the lakes because he has been here so long and knows them so well. I don’t think Kevin saw himself as just law enforcement – he was the heart of the park team.”
“He was definitely not just law enforcement,” DeGross said. “He was a jack of all trades and assisted in whatever he could. He was always very committed to going out and helping with facility maintenance stuff when it was needed or helping out in our interpretation and education program. He was definitely one of those people who was integral to making sure that there was a team spirit, making sure he fostered that team to the greatest extent possible.”
As a law enforcement ranger, Grossheim often teamed up with now retired DNR Conservation Officer Lloyd Steen, of Ray, when circumstances called for more than one responder.
“My overarching feeling about Kevin knowing him through the years is that he was a very kind-hearted soul,” Steen said. “He was always professional, but he was also very personable, very easy to get along with, and he really pushed safety within the park.”
Speaking to Steen’s point, Grossheim received the park’s annual safety award this year.
“And whenever we ended up in an enforcement situation, he was capable,” Steen said. “I always felt that he could handle himself, but he favored more of the safety training and the medical.”
It was Grossheim’s emergency medical background that brought him into contact about 17 years ago with Alyssa Richards, then coordinating EMS services for St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and Grossheim doing the same at VNP.
“We worked a lot together with EMS and search and rescue,” Richards said. “We started this cool concept of doing an EMT refresher just with the parks, and it was awesome. They would come down, Apostle Islands would come down, and we concentrated on what we do in the parks instead of a generic EMT refresher. This was back in the day, like 2007 to 2014.”
For many years, Grossheim was also the lead instructor for the park’s motorboat certification course, DeGross said.
“He was the lead of the six to eight instructors that we have and put a lot of effort into making sure that people knew how to operate safely,” DeGross said.
Warrington witnessed some of Grossheim’s work and spoke glowingly about the experience.
“We were just so impressed with those young men and how he treated them, and they respected him,” Warrington said. “You could tell that they enjoyed being around Kevin and he was amazing with them. He just taught them so well and the time and effort he put into the curriculum was I’m sure way beyond the scope of what he was required to do.”
And Grossheim was passionate about connecting the park with its surrounding communities.
“He was always the one who was the biggest advocate of making sure we were involved with the Fourth of July parade at International Falls, or we were involved and participated in whatever might be going on at any of our gateway communities,” DeGross said. “He recognized the need to connect with the community.”
Kabetogama
If someone wonders who fixed a piece of play equipment in the community playground, Warrington would be glad to tell them that it was Grossheim.
“There’s a little teeter totter airplane toy and the propeller was broken,” she said. “He took it on himself, he got the part, and he repaired it and had it fixed for the kids so no one would get hurt on it.”
And besides all the little things he did for the community, his most important contribution may have been working with the Kabetogama emergency medical service and fire department.
“He was just always, always there,” Warrington said. “He responded to as many calls as he possibly could with the EMS and fire department.”
“He’s just been such a vital member of the community, both the park community and the local community,” DeGross said.
Minnesota North
Grossheim’s impact was also felt nearly 70 miles away as the crow flies in Ely, where he and other park rangers have served as instructors for Minnesota North-Vermilion’s Park Ranger Law Enforcement Academy, and it was a place where he reconnected with Richards, now an instructor there in the wilderness and parks program.
“He’s been coming down to teach patrol skills, using scenarios that they go through, and they do like a lab, learning how to do the patrol skills,” Richards said. “Kevin always enjoyed coming down. I don’t know how many years he’s been doing it, but at least the last ten years since I’ve been here, he’s been doing that.”
And as with his motorboat training, his connection with the students was remarkable, Richards said.
“He was amazing,” she said. “Everybody loves Kevin. He’s very patient. He’s been doing this a long time, and with his background and knowledge and skills in these situations, I think the students perceive that. He’s very calm, cool and collected and that kind of rubs off on them a little bit.”
Final words
Funeral arrangements for Grossheim were still pending as of press time, but there is sure to be an outpouring of love and support when the service is held. Words of respect and appreciation will continue in the upcoming days, but one of Grossheim’s VNP colleagues took the opportunity to pass along his sentiments to Grossheim personally last Saturday, the day before the accident.
Supervisory Park Ranger Mark Miller was on vacation last week, but on Saturday he took his parents to see the Kabetogama Visitor Center, and Grossheim was there.
“I had the opportunity to introduce them to Kevin, and I took the opportunity in person to particularly share how wonderful he always is to our seasonal rangers and volunteers, taking them out to see the wonders of the park, and always willing to come to the aid of others,” Miller said.
“My last words to Kevin before parting ways late Saturday afternoon were on behalf of all of us at Voyageurs, quite possibly the last words he heard in-person from a park colleague,” Miller continued. “Words of many thanks as I let Kevin know ‘everybody loves you.’ His eyes lit up, he flashed his trademark smile, and I could tell how encouraged he was. He will be deeply missed.”

Funeral service
Sunday, October 13, 2024
1:00PM
Falls High School Gymnasium
1515 11th St,
International Falls