Compassion and love for clients marked Grosse’s years at EPS

For nearly 19 years, Pam Grosse has shown compassion to countless women experiencing a crisis pregnancy – educating them about their options, sharing hope and encouraging them to choose life.

 

Grosse retired from Omaha-based Essential Pregnancy Services (EPS) Dec. 31 and was honored with the organization’s Spirit of EPS Award at its annual benefit dinner Jan. 28.

 

 “She has served so selflessly,” said Theresa Alarcon, EPS director of nursing. “Her relationship with clients and the way she lovingly approached them has had a huge impact. Those one-on-one interactions that slowly change hearts and minds – that’s what our pro-life mission is about.

 

“She met them where they were, and regardless of their situations, made them feel loved and accepted,” Alarcon said.

 

Grosse, 65, and her husband, Deacon Randy Grosse, are members of St. James Parish in Omaha. A registered nurse, she began her career at Antelope Memorial Hospital in Neligh and also worked at Jefferson County Memorial Hospital in Fairbury.

 

When they moved to Omaha in 1984, she joined Methodist Hospital’s staff where her work included the emergency room, high-risk births, pre- and post-surgery and the cancer center.

 

In 1999 she began a journey that would become her passion and a ministry, joining EPS as a volunteer client advocate, counseling and educating clients about their pregnancies and options.

 

Three years later she was hired as volunteer coordinator, and in 2005 she became EPS medical clinic’s first nurse manager.

 

Since then, through Grosse’s efforts, the clinic has grown from having one nurse to seven, implemented a nursing rotation program with Methodist College and acquired ultrasound equipment to let pregnant women get a glimpse of their unborn babies. 

 

In 2016, she stepped back from her management position but continued to work as a staff nurse at the Benson clinic location.

 

Deacon Grosse, who retired last year as general manager and editor of the Catholic Voice, noted that she always looked at the big picture.

 

“Obviously she was concerned about the baby,” he said, “but if the woman chose abortion, Pam didn’t just abandon her; she still tried to provide some level of comfort if the woman came back, or welcomed her back later if pregnant again.”

 

“She was also concerned about the entire family. If it was a young girl, she was concerned about her mom and dad. She was concerned about the father and the whole network of the family, and really that’s what EPS is about,” he said.

 

And she views life as a “seamless garment,” Deacon Grosse said. “Pam believes in life as sacred from the moment of conception to natural death; she opposes abortion and the death penalty, and supports programs helping the poor and elderly. She’s pro-life in the broadest possible sense.”

 

Together, Grosse and her husband serve on their parish’s pro-life and marriage ministry committees and assist with marriage preparation. Grosse also is an officer with her parish’s Catholic Daughters court and serves its hospital ministry, and her husband serves the parish as a deacon.

 

In their shared retirement, they plan to travel and spend time with the families of their four children. Grosse plans to stay connected to EPS as a fill-in nurse.

 

“This is too much of who I am and my passion and mission to walk away completely,” she said.

 

The most rewarding part of her work at EPS was the clients, Pam said. “To be able to be a part of this crisis time in their lives, to listen to them and to help them start thinking of ways to improve their lives has been an honor. I’ll miss the clients, and of course our employees.”

 

Winning the Spirit of EPS Award was a “huge shock,” she said. “It was the farthest thing from my mind, but I am so humbled and honored. It also solidified the responsibility I feel to always support this organization so it will continue to be there for those who need it.”