Diane Grogan, 66: Math teacher enjoyed barbecue cooking contests

Diane Grogan knew how to put the right formula together for excellence, which was displayed in her roles as a wife, mother, math teacher and cooking competitor.

Mrs. Grogan was born on Feb. 18, 1946 in Trion, Ga. She and her future husband, Sam Grogan, grew up in the same town, but didn't socialize until she was a junior in college and he was a freshman.

"We knew each other all our lives," Mr. Grogan said. "One afternoon, I asked her for a date and it seemed to work for us." The couple were married a year later in 1967.

While she had always planned to be a teacher, she left college and took an accounting job to help put her husband through school. After she had their first child, Mrs. Grogan wanted to go back to work.

"I told her if you're going back to work, you're going back to school," Mr. Grogan said. "I at least owed her that."

She graduated from Georgia College in Milledgeville in 1972.

Diane Grogan of McDonough died Tuesday at home from complications of pancreatic cancer. She was 66. The body was cremated. A memorial service will be held Saturday at Haisten Funeral Home, which is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Grogan taught for 30 years in the Clayton County school system, at both Morrow Junior High School and Lovejoy High School, where she received the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition award. After Mrs. Grogan retired from teaching, she joined her husband in barbecue cooking competitions.

"I was going to barbecue school and she decided to join me," her husband said. The couple was known as the Jus-Fer-Fun Competition Crew on the contest circuit and in Mrs. Grogan's first contest, she created a Grits Key Lime Pie that won first place.

"She was the chief cook and I became the assistant cook, bottle washer and later just the guy that drives the truck," Mr. Grogan said with a laugh. The couple, who won many competitions, maintained memberships with the Florida Barbecue Society and the Kansas City Barbecue Society.

"Their barbecue cooking was a social outlet for them," said their oldest daughter, Stephanie Garcha of Atlanta. "Once the kids move out, lots of parents don't have anything in common and I'm thrilled that they had that time together."

The couple made friends with other competitors and would socialize with them over meals prior to contests. Another daughter, Jennifer Deason of Milledgeville, said her mother would jokingly tell them, "You can come eat, but you're not going to win."