Chamber member falls into a coma

Art Gronsky, a longtime member of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce and community volunteer, is in a coma in an Alaska hospital, a chamber official announced at a public function Thursday evening.

Bill Rhinesmith, who serves on the chamber’s board of directors and is a member of its Commodores Club, mentioned Gronsky’s illness during an invocation at the 10th annual Newport Beach Fire and Lifeguard Appreciation Beach Party at the Newport Dunes Resort.

Earlier in the day, word had spread among some in the community that Gronsky was not well, and a spokeswoman for Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage confirmed that he was being treated there.

Officials at the Chamber of Commerce and the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, where Gronsky has been involved over the years, said earlier Thursday that they were waiting for word about his condition.

Nancy Shoemate, the museum’s director of operations, said she had heard from a colleague Wednesday that Gronsky was in a hospital in Alaska but had no details.

Jeff Parker, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, said Gronsky had been a member since 1947 and volunteered with a number of events, including the annual holiday boat parade.

Even in recent months, he said, the 87-year-old Gronsky had remained tightly involved with the chamber’s activities.

“Almost every event the chamber’s been in, he’s been in or helped to organize,” Parker said.

Chamber officials had heard secondhand that Gronsky was ill and were trying to nail down the facts, Parker added.

“I just heard there’s a medical issue, and we’re trying to call around and find out what’s going on,” he said.

Gronsky, whose family owned the Balboa Pavilion from 1947 to 1960, has stayed active in the fishing and boating community, at one point being named Citizen of the Year by the Newport Beach City Council. Earlier this year, as the chamber prepared to celebrate its centennial, he spoke to the Daily Pilot about joining the group in its fledgling days.

“It was probably 10% of what it is now,” Gronsky said. “We did what we could in those days, but it wasn’t a whole lot. Why, compared to today, it was nothing. But I ended up serving on the board of it shortly after [I joined], and I was on the board for about 25 years.”

Gronsky has also been a common face over the years at the Balboa Pavilion, General Manager Bob Black said.

“That’s a shocker,” Black said upon hearing that Gronsky was ill. “That’s a good guy.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.