COVINGTON, Ind. — A man who has served Fountain County in public office for more than 30 years was honored Sunday as the 2012 Living Legacy award recipient for Covington.

Former Judge Vincent Grogg was honored at the Friendship Circle Center’s annual benefit at the Beef House Banquet Center.

Mark Posey, the administrator of The Waters of Covington, said Grogg was honored for his “contributions to the community of Covington.”

The award, which began in 2004, is sponsored by The Waters of Covington and the Friendship Circle Center.

“This is unbelievable,” Grogg said. “I did not grow up in Covington. It is my adopted hometown. It is a privilege to live here. I thank the community in which we live. It is full of good people. It is a privilege to live in this community.”

Grogg and his wife, Millie, were surprised when most of their family of four children and 11 grandchildren were present to help in the presentation.

Grogg was born and raised in Lake County in northwest Indiana. He was a  1951 graduate of Griffith High School, where he was a three-sport athlete. He went on to Wabash College, where he continued to excel in football, basketball and baseball as well as academically.

He met his future wife on a blind date in Crawfordsville.

“Within weeks of meeting Millie, he knew he had met the love of his life and in 1956 they were married,” said their son, Ed, who assisted in the presentation. “They left Crawfordsville and headed for Bloomington where he spent the next three years at Indiana University’s School of Law.”

Wanting to raise a family in a small town in Indiana, he accepted a position at the White law firm and moved to Covington.

“He has dedicated his life to this amazing community that he proudly calls his home,” son Ed said. “He has raised a family of four children and has dedicated his life to this great community.”

Grogg was first elected prosecuting attorney in Fountain County and was elected judge in 1968, a position he served for 30 years before retiring later after an additional decade as a senior judge. He also served on the Covington School Board.

His impact on Covington included:

• A Little League baseball coach for more than 30 years.
• Volunteer junior high football coach for more than 40 years.
• A Sunday School teacher at the Covington United Methodist Church for more than 50 years.
• Involved in Boy Scouts for more than 40 years.
• Active in the Covington Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation and the Covington Community Foundation for more than 30 years.
• Part of the founding team that made the Trojan Complex a reality.
• A founding board member of the Bank of Western Indiana, now Old National Bank.

“With all of his gifts of time, the greatest gift he has given has been his leadership, his wisdom and his loyal support to his family, his friends, his faith and his community,” Ed said. “Spend some time talking to people around Covington and Fountain County and they will you about the friendships he has developed over the past 50 years and the legacy he has left on so many lives in Covington.

“He has indeed left a lasting legacy on the community he has called home for the past 54 years, and I can think of no one who deserves this award more than my father, Vince Grogg. Congratulations, Dad!”

Nearly 200 people crowded into the banquet center for the annual benefit for the Friendship Circle Center. Entertainment included the Covington Elementary School Chorus and the Danville Men’s Barbershop Chorus.