Calvin “Tex” Grohoske

Memorial by Gary Butler

I know of at least three people who died on this side of the prison from coronavirus. They were not close associates, but they were close in proximity. The one that really struck me, and all of us who go to the B-block gym regularly, was that of a dude we called “Tex.” 

Tex was about 5’ 8” and he was diabetic. He used to go on the insulin run twice a day, or so, with the rest of the guys who have to take insulin. Tex had a good spirit about him. He was mostly a loner, and before ever interacting with him I watched him for about a year as he would walk around the gym. He was always quiet, walking around the gym’s basketball court with his head down. I knew that he was trying to get some exercise as best he could, and that always made me want to invite him to lift weights with us. I never did invite him, though, because after getting to know him a little I understood that Tex just was not the type of person who hung out with a bunch of rowdy dudes. The one person he became fast-friends with was a brother named Mustafa who was Tex’s neighbor on V-company. “Tex died!”... “Tex died from that COVID s#*%,” was the rumor that came to the block in the first week of April, but like most of the jailhouse talk I didn’t believe it. “I’m telling you they say he died, and we were telling them for two days straight that he had a fever so bad that he was sweating!! We kept telling them that something was wrong with him, and that they should keep him in the hospital, but they kept sending him back,” said one of the guys who went on the insulin med-run with him every day. I still did not believe him, though, until a couple of days later when they came and put a lock and chain on Tex’s cell; and then, one week after that two other incarcerated folks in head-to-toe PPE were sent into that cell to pack up Tex’s property. That confirmed in my mind that Tex did in fact die from complications of COVID-19. 

I have since learned that Tex’s real name was Calvin Grohoske, and that he was originally from a small town near Waco, Texas. There are quite a few of us who have locked right here in B-block for several years, and for all of the years that we have been around him we all know Tex as having been a good dude. You’d never see him angry: Never hear him raise his voice, or so much as a harsh word; and, you’d never see him make a fuss about anything (which is probably why the other guys had to speak up for him at the hospital). All you’d see was Tex - seemingly preoccupied - mildly and humbly moving through life. He was a good spirit, and every one of us “hardened men” who interacted with him in the least were saddened by his passing. Rest In Peace, Tex. 

This memorial is from a letter that Gary sent to MOL. Gary and Tex were incarcerated together at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York.

From Mourning Our Losses: 
Calvin “Tex” Grohoske died on April 11, 2020 from complications of COVID-19. He was 43. According to his obituary, he was born in Texas. He resided in New York at the time of his death.