John Stewart Groves was a consultant ophthalmologist in the Coventry area. He was born in Harrogate on 23 August 1921, the son of Olive and John Arthur Groves. His mother was a teacher and his father a professional soldier. He did his medical training in Leeds, qualifying in 1943, and entered the Army in the RAMC. He spent part of the war in the Far East, repatriating prisoners of war, and at this time decided on a career in ophthalmology. He returned to Leeds for specialist training, and was a consultant ophthalmologist in Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital from 1955 to 1985. He was medical director of the School of Orthoptics in Coventry. He was noted for being a talented and deft anterior segment surgeon, and was keen to pass on his knowledge to junior medical staff. Many of his juniors were from India and Pakistan and, in recognition of his work and expertise, he was awarded an honorary membership of the Ophthalmological Society of Pakistan in 1996. He was a member of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Faculty of Ophthalmology and the Ophthalmological Society of the UK. He had two daughters by his first marriage. One works as a research nurse and the second trained as a nurse, but is now in marketing. He married a second time, to Janet Shortland, who was principal of the School of Orthoptics in Coventry. He was an accomplished ocean-going yachtsman, and he and his wife spent much time sailing to and around the Mediterranean. He died on 23 March 1997 of a ruptured aortic aneurysm.