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Obituary: John R. Kroll -- Versatile carpenter and 'a good guy'
Friday, March 03, 2000 By Karen Kane, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
John R. Kroll was a man known as much by his manner as by his deeds.
A skilled carpenter, he was regarded by his employer and his friends as one who was capable of accomplishing any task put before him.
But, the skills for which he will be most dearly remembered will likely be his skills with people.
"He was the strength of his family and his circle of friends," recounted the Rev. Mike Greb, a Capuchin friar who was Mr. Kroll's pastor at St. Joseph Church in Cabot, Butler County.
Mr. Kroll, 55, died Wednesday at UPMC Presbyterian of gunshot wounds inflicted while he was on the job in Wilkinsburg.
A maintenance man for Delta Property Management in Shaler for 18 years, Mr. Kroll specialized in carpentry. Delta manages and owns apartment buildings throughout the region, including Woodside Garden Apartments, where Mr. Kroll was shot. He had just finished repairing a door for the man accused of killing him.
Patrick Connelly, chief financial officer of Delta, said of Mr. Kroll: "Try to think of the nicest guy you know and double that, and that's John Kroll. He was of gentle manner and demeanor, friendly to everyone, calm and relaxed. He would do anything you asked of him and was as dependable as anybody we've ever had work for us.
"Johnny was so versatile and so skilled, we sent him wherever we needed him. He could do anything he was asked to do, whether it was remodeling a kitchen or building a fence or fixing a door."
John "J.D." DeWitt, who was with Mr. Kroll in his final hours as they worked together on the door project at Woodside, was also a friend. "Johnny was so easy-going, quick to laugh. He was a good guy," DeWitt said.
Kelli McClung, who works in the Shaler office of Delta, agreed.
"He never complained about anything. He was working hard to take care of his family. A good, innocent man in the wrong place at the wrong time. We're heartbroken to have lost him," she said.
Mr. Kroll had lived on Marwood Road in Winfield, just outside Saxonburg in Butler County, since he and his wife bought the property in 1985. He was born in Pittsburgh on Oct. 15, 1944, the son of John and Ann Conley Kroll, and formerly resided in Lawrenceville.
Mr. Kroll had served in the Army as a military police officer and was a member of St. Joseph Church and the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Lawrenceville.
He was married on June 5, 1971, to Carol Scott, who survives along with three children, Steven S. and Elizabeth, both at home, and Michael, of Baltimore; a brother, Joseph Kroll of Hampton; and three sisters, Nancy Kroll of Lawrenceville, Janine Kroll of Bellevue, and Kathleen Kroll of North Carolina.
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at Fox Funeral Home in Saxonburg. A Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. tomorrow in St. Joseph Church. Burial will follow in St. Mary Cemetery in Herman, Butler County.
The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, 1620 Murray Ave., Pittsburgh 15217
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