John Bakken Froom

John was born on September 17, 1965 to Harold and Betty Froom in Duluth, MN. He was a graduate of St Louis Park High School, class of 1983 and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls in 1988. He applied his education, strong social skills and his love for sports working in sales at the Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Zoo and Rollerblade, Inc. He was an avid reader and had a collection of history, travel and sports books and made it a daily routine to read the newspaper. He was a long-time coach and former board member of the Crystal Little League organization.

John will lovingly and forever be remembered by family and friends as a loving and proud father, and a fun-loving friend who had a great sense of humor, loved to dance and had a huge heart.

John was a passionate sports historian and fan and was a proud and loyal lifetime Minnesota Twins fan. He used his passion and extensive knowledge of baseball to coach his son’s baseball teams for many years. When he wasn’t coaching, he could be found in the announcer’s booth playing music to get the players pumped up for the game and sharing his knowledge of the players, sports trivia and love of the sport with the fans. He was the “Voice of the Orioles” as a volunteer sports announcer and color commentator for Park TV 16 for eight years for the St Louis Park Orioles football, hockey, and baseball games and was recognized for his many contributions to the sports community in 2014.

He was a talented writer and authored many Sun Post and St Louis Park Patch articles featuring local athletes and teams on their accomplishments. He also had a unique talent of knowing how to easily navigate the college recruiting and scouting process and was the big reason both of his son’s achieved their dream of playing baseball at the college level and earned scholarships.

A few of John’s proudest moments in life were having his sons be the 3rd generation to attend and graduate from St. Louis Park High School, watching his son’s play baseball at the college level and testifying in support of the Ballpark Bill that was approved by the MN Legislature in 2006 to build Target Field, the home of the MN Twins.

John will fondly be remembered for his gentle compassion and kindness towards others, he always saw the good in people. Despite his God given talent of bringing joy and happiness to others, deep inside, he was suffering in darkness, privately battling a deep inexplicable pain. He succumbed to the silent illness of depression and took his own life. We know that he is finally without pain and is now at peace in heaven.

John is survived by sons, Ryan and Kyle, the mother of his children, Nancy Froom, his Uncle Jim & Aunt Sharon Froom, his Aunt Joann Bakken, and many cousins and friends.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Betty (Bakken) Froom and father, Harold Froom, his maternal and paternal grandparents and several Aunts, Uncles and cousins on the Froom and Bakken side of the family

A memorial service will be held on Friday, November 27, 2020 at 2:00 pm, with visitation one hour prior at Kapala-Glodek-Malone Funeral Home, located at 7800 Bass Lake Rd, New Hope MN 55428. A private interment will take place at a later date.

The service will be on Livestream starting at 2:00 pm to our Kapala-Glodek-Malone Facebook page at the following link : https://www.facebook.com/Kapala-Glodek-Malone-Funeral-Home-110457957276640 This video of the service will still be available on our page after the livestream has ended for those who have missed the service.

The family suggests donations be made in John’s memory directly to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness or NIMH, the National Institute of Mental Health.