Theodore R. (Ted) Cromack

Theodore Robert (Ted) Cromack passed away at home on May 22nd with his wife and children by his side.  He was born in Greenfield, MA on October 16, 1927, to Theodore Royal and Minnie (Messer) Cromack. He grew up in Colrain and Shelburne, MA.  He attended the South School and Red Brick School in Colrain, the Consolidated School in Shelburne and Arms Academy, graduating in 1945. He entered the Air Force in February 1946 and served in the Occupation Forces in Japan and Germany. He retired from the Air Force in July 1967 as a Chief Warrant Officer (W-4). In addition to serving in the Occupation Forces, he served a tour as ROTC staff member in Queens College, NY; on the Headquarters staff of Military Air Transport Service (MATS) at Scott Air Force Base, IL; Management Engineering Officer at Dover, DE; Detachment Commander of a Management Engineering Team at McChord AFB, Tacoma, WA; and ending his career as Manpower Officer of a MATS wing at Honolulu, HI.

On September 10, 1949, he married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Phyllis Dole of Shelburne and they celebrated their 74th anniversary in 2023.  Before entering the Air Force, Ted was a member of Troop 15, Boy Scouts of America, and was a member of Shelburne Grange advancing to the 7th degree, National Grange.

Ted and Mary had five children, Douglas Ted (Margot) of San Antonio, TX; Nina Mary Allan (John) of Eden, VT; Hazel Minnie Eringis (Charles) of Warrenton, VA; Fred Royal (Connie Cromack Keefe); and Charles Dole (Norma) of Warrenton, VA.  They have ten grandchildren. Margot Anne Johnson (Joseph), Jessica Stalker (Arnold), Patricia Freiberg (Rees), Fred Cromack Jr., Jason Keefe (Karla), Charles Cromack Jr. (Hannah), Philip Cromack (Sarah), Kallie McRae (Carson), Ellen Cromack, and Theodore Cromack (Kelsey) plus eleven great-grandchildren, Elijah and Noah Freiberg, Charles and Evelyn Cromack, Artemis and Apollo McRae, Jazmynn Cromack, Bryan, Emily and Nicole Keefe and Miles Stalker.

Ted is also survived by his brother Duane and many beloved nieces and nephews.   He was predeceased by his son Fred Royal, his sister Mae, his brothers Bruce and Dana plus sons-in-law Charles Eringis and John Allan, as well as a great grandson Artemis McRae.

Following his Air Force career, Ted joined the staff of Johnson State College, Johnson, VT, as Instructor in Psychology. Having earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Education from McKendree College, Lebanon, IL and a Master of Education in Educational Psychology from the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, he proceeded to earn a Doctor of Education in Educational Research from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In 1971, Ted became Registrar of Johnson State College, then Assistant to the President. In 1978 he took a position in the Educational Research Center at SUNY, Albany, NY. In 1980 he moved to work on a research project with American Institutes for Research in Cambridge, MA, then to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University directing a project funded by the Department of Agriculture, involving the school lunch program.

In 1969 Ted became a charter member of the New England Educational Research Organization and later served as President. He was a member of the American Educational Research Association and the Northeast Educational Research Association. 

Immediately prior to retirement, Ted went to work with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, DC, as program director of an Army National Guard Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges project. During his four years on that project, he visited colleges and Army National Guard units in thirty-seven of the fifty states plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

While in Johnson, Ted served as President of the Village of Johnson, President of the local Chamber of Commerce, member of the Lamoille Union High School Board of Directors and Moderator for the Town of Johnson.

While living in New York, he and Mary began modern western Square Dancing. Later, taking over from his father, Ted learned to call while in Northern Virginia. He belonged to the Virginia Callers Association, the National Association of Square Dance Callers (Caller lab), and later to the New England Square Dance Association and local callers’ organizations. He and his wife organized the Mohawk Square Dance Club in Shelburne and enjoyed the friends and fellowship of square dancing until no longer able to dance.

Since retiring to Shelburne, he and Mary have joined and been very active in the First Congregational Church of Shelburne. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pastoral Counseling Center of Franklin County. He joined the Keene, NH, Pops Choir where he sang for ten years and the Hilltown Harmony in Shelburne when it was organized in 2012.

Ted has authored numerous technical papers dealing with educational research and testing and has chapters in several books dealing with testing. Since retiring, Ted has written four novels, “The River Flows”, which has a setting along the Deerfield River in Southern Vermont and Western Massachusetts; “The Campus Murders “, and “Wild Justice”, both mysteries and “Hole in the Mountain”, an historical novel of the building of the Hoosac Tunnel. He has also published two books of short stories, “An Anthology of Short Stories and Verses,” and “The Hangman’s Noose,” also a book of poetry, “The Ebb and Flow of Life.”  Most recently Ted and his wife Mary completed a story of their lives, “Our Life Together”. Posthumously his only children’s book “How Do Sheep Sleep?” will be published.

He enjoyed playing golf well into his 90’s; played bridge with dear friends until a few months before his passing and loved playing cards with his family, particularly a game nicknamed ‘Beat Papa’ by his grandchildren.

Visitation will be at Smith-Kelleher in Shelburne Falls on Saturday, June 1st from 3 to 5PM.

He will be cremated and there will be a celebration of his life at First Congregational Church of Shelburne on June 22nd at 2PM followed by a graveside ceremony and reception.  In his honor and memory, you are invited to wear your military uniform.   His cremains will be placed in a stone in the East Shelburne Cemetery where he will join his son’s ashes.

In lieu of flowers, he would be pleased with donations to the First Congregational Church of Shelburne, 21 Church Common, Shelburne, MA 01370, c/o Lewis Goodnow, Treasurer.

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