Donald Burke Kromer

The former President of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington, Texas, Donald B. Kromer, 79, died at Kindred Hospital, Arlington, on April 3 2015. Don proudly possessed a dedicated reputation in youth service that extended throughout Texas, Colorado and Idaho. Don was honored in 1996 with the naming of the Donald B. Kromer Building of the Boys & Girls Club of Arlington.

Don was born October 22, 1935 in Boise, Idaho to Ralph & Arlee Hall Kromer. He graduated from Boise High School in 1953 after serving his senior year as Regimental Commander of the Army ROTC.

Don began his service to youth as an Eagle Scout in 1957 and served as the nation's youngest Camp Director for the Boy Scouts at McCall. ID. He was Scout Master to Explorer Posts in Sherman, Texas and Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was a member of DeMolay and the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

He graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Business Management and then served as a Commissioned Officer in the U. S. Air Force. He went on to serve as a Fighter Jet Pilot in Texas, Missouri, and during the Vietnam War he was stationed in the Philippines. In 1996 Capt. Kromer was stationed in Colorado Springs, Colorado with the Air Defense Command.

Don resigned his Air Force Commission in 1968 to enter in to youth services. He began working with the Denver Boys Club in 1970 rejuvenating their Summer Camp Program. In 1975 he was hired as Executive Director of the Boys Clubs of Austin. In 1980 he moved to Arlington, Texas, retiring as President of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington in 2001. Under his leadership the Arlington Clubs grew from serving 1,200 boys on a budget of $250,000 to serving 7,500 boys & girls and budget of $1.5 million.

As a consultant for the National Boys & Girls Clubs of America, his retirement kept him involved in service through the United Way of Texas and as Chairman of the Tournament Committee of the Southwestern Association, USA Boxing. He received many awards. He was a recipient of the United Way of Metropolitan Tarrant County Hercules Award, the Voice of Advocacy Award from the Tarrant County Youth Collaborative and the Master & Mentors Degree conferred by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Advisory Council.

Don was a consummate outdoors man, enjoying golf, hiking, fishing and camping. He has mentored generations in the art of wilderness survival and appreciation for nature and the beauty of the Rocky Mountains in Idaho and Colorado.

Don Kromer is survived by his sister Linda Sue and husband Ron Kerr of Boise, Idaho, niece Diane Kromer and great niece Delavan Kromer of San Francisco, California, niece Katy Cooke and nephews Michael Kromer and Mark Kromer and great nephew Ian Cooke and great niece Kaitlin Cooke, and also his best friends Bob Brueck of Austin and Bob Sheets of Denver and, of course, the thousands of friends and youths he has worked with at the Boys & Girls Clubs and in amateur boxing. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Ralph Eugene in 1996.

A Celebration of Don’s Life will be held at 1:00pm, Wednesday, April 8, 2015, at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Arlington, Kromer Branch at 200 E. Cravens Park Drive, Arlington, TX 76018. In lieu of flowers the family suggests a memorial donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington, or to a charity of your choice. As a final tribute to helping others, Don wanted his body donated for the advancement of medical science, and his body was donated to the Southwestern Medical Center.