Harold Dean Cromer, 98, entered into eternal life with Christ on Saturday, January 11, 2020. A lifelong resident of Columbia, he was born on January 22, 1921 to the late Inez Geiger and Silas Dean Cromer. He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Evelyn Whittle Cromer.
He is survived by his daughters, Bette Althof, Lynn Tortora (Augie), and Evie Galloway (Jerry); grandchildren, Scott Tortora (Michelle), Chris Althof (Rachel), Jenny Tate (Jeremy), Ryan Galloway (Mariana), Caroline Althof Salas (Edwin), and Ashley D’Allesandro (Ryan); ten great-grandchildren and loved ones from the Whittle family.
Services will be held on Thursday, January 16 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, with Rev. Tony Metze officiating and Dunbar Funeral Home assisting. Visitation will be at 1:00 in the Good Shepherd Room and funeral service at 2:00 in the sanctuary, followed by internment at Zion Lutheran Church in Lexington. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church 1715 Bull St., Columbia, SC 29201 or to a Hospice or charity of one’s choice.
Harold was the only child born to Inez Geiger and Silas D. Cromer. His parents were older when they married. His dad operated a small grocery store and the family lived upstairs. His mother was a charter member of Tabernacle Baptist and his dad a member of St. Paul’s, so for most of his childhood he attended Sunday School at St. Paul’s (his father was the Sunday School Superintendent) and church at Tabernacle Baptist. When he was about 9 his father became ill and spent the last nine months of his life in the Columbia Hospital. He died when Harold was 11 and his mother died a year later, following a brief illness. At that point St. Paul’s truly became extended family to him. Pastor Honeycutt and Deems Haltiwanger, in particular, were important role models. During those years after his parents’ deaths he lived with friends of his mother in his neighborhood and continued his music lessons (saxophone and clarinet), earning his spending money as a paper carrier. He became a member of the musician’s union at age fourteen and began playing in dance bands – into “big money” then.
Harold was a Columbia High School graduate and attended Bowen’s Business College. His working career began at Carolina Ceramics and he retired after many years in administrative service to Richtex Brick. He was a WWII veteran. During the Big Band era he played saxophone and clarinet with the Henry Westbrook and Woody Woodward bands. Of most importance to him, however, were his family and his faith. He sang in the church choir for 70 years, served as church treasurer for 58 years and was bookkeeper/treasurer of the Lowman Home for 50 years. He put it this way, “St. Paul’s has always been family to me. I am grateful for those who stepped up along the way to guide my path.”
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