Born Robert Peter Groeschel in 1933 in Jersey City, New Jersey, he attended Catholic elementary and high school (Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair, New Jersey) and then entered the Detroit Province of the Capuchin Order in 1951.
Born Robert Peter Groeschel on July 23,1933 in Jersey City, New Jersey, he was the eldest of the six children of Edward Joseph Groeschel and Marjule Smith Groeschel. Groeschel attended Catholic elementary and high school (Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair, New Jersey) and then entered the Detroit Province of the Capuchin Order in 1951.