SAN MARCOS - A close family got even closer when Kent Grove flipped his car on his way back from a work-related trip to Arizona in April 1991.

The accident left Grove a quadriplegic. Suddenly, the active husband and father of five was confined to a wheelchair. It was up to his family to help him with his most basic needs.

His wife, Chris, and the children helped feed and bathe their father without complaint as Chris went back to work and the children pursued their education. As the kids grew and moved away, other relatives pitched in to care for Grove.

Dad reciprocated by becoming a vocal fan of his kids in their endeavors at Escondido High School. In a November 2000 story, basketball coach Paul Baldwin called Kent and Chris Grove his team's "No. 1 fans. They're always here, and everyone loves them."

Whether basketball, volleyball or water polo, Grove attended games in any sport his kids would play.

"He'd get me in trouble yelling at the refs," said Gary Chapman, Grove's brother-in-law and business partner. "That was everything to him. He'd get ready for a game two or three hours early so he would not be late. That was his life."

It was all about family for Grove, who died Sept. 26 at his San Marcos home. He was 58.

"He loved his kids, and his kids knew he loved them," said Chapman. "He loved his grandkids, who would climb up on his wheelchair. He couldn't escape, so they would get up and they would talk to him."

His children and relatives were frequent visitors. Chapman lives next door to the Grove home and another brother lives two doors away. Many of the children still live in the area, and even those who don't make regular trips home.

"It's kind of the ideal family - 'Father Knows Best' - everyone was always around," Chapman said. "He had a real close relationship with all the kids."

Kent Grove was born May 5, 1949, in Clovis, N.M. His family moved to California, where Grove, a good student and talented athlete, married Christine Chapman - his sweetheart at Westminster High School - on Aug. 14, 1970. He graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in marketing and communication and worked with companies in Pittsburgh, Garden Grove and Riverside before moving to Escondido in 1984.

Grove got into land development in the late 1980s in a partnership with Chapman. He was working on a project in Bullhead City, Ariz., when the accident changed his life.

He eventually earned his real estate license, and in recent years worked with Chapman at the Home Construction Lending Group making mortgage and construction loans. The two were working on a development project at the time of Grove's death.

His disability rarely kept him from pursuing his goals.

"He had a really good attitude most of the time. I know (his injury) bugged him because he was such an active person before," said Chapman. "But you really didn't hear him bemoan that he couldn't do things he used to be able to do. I think he accepted his circumstances and did the best he could with what he had."

According to his brother-in-law, Grove was "a game-show freak," who was especially into "Jeopardy."

"If he had full use of his hands, he would have been in real contention," said Chapman. "An answer would come up and he would whip out the question right off."

He also enjoyed going back to his old high school in Westminster. On one trip with his daughter, Darci, he insisted on taking her to the space where he would park his beloved 1964 Volkswagen Bug, Chapman said.

"When they went around, they saw that it's now a handicapped spot," Chapman said.

- Contact staff columnist Jeff Frank at (760) 7405419 or jfrank@nctimes.com.