Dr. Robert E. (Bob) Croom, of Union City passed away Friday, December 27, 2013. Bob was born in Dillon, SC on July 24, 1932 to Lillian and Archie Croom, but lived his early life in Savannah, GA. Bob had two older brothers, Archie, Jr. and Bill; and one younger brother, Freddy. As you can imagine, the four were great friends: When Bob was little, Archie and Bill painted his glasses with white shoe polish – Bill said that Bobby liked it! Despite the normal amount of brotherly roughhousing, the boys were genuinely devoted to each other.
In the summer of 1949, Bob's oldest brother, Archie joined his younger brother Bob, to hike along the Appalachian Trail. Just one year later, Archie was killed in action in Korea. Bob's youngest brother, Freddy, born with Down syndrome, was so very loved by his "Bobby". Freddy died in 2007 at the age of 63. Bob's other brother, Bill died in 2011. Bob always believed in working hard. His first job at age 10, was as a janitor at the Penn Store in
Savannah – where he worked three afternoons a week. At 11, he moved to the Octagon Premium
Redemption Store to become stock clerk. At 12, he got a paper route that he kept for three years, until he became an usher at the Bijou Theatre where he worked until graduation from Savannah High School. After graduation, Bob served in the U.S. Air Force (Strategic Air Command) during the Korean War, and is a life member of the Korean War Veterans Association. In 1953, he was assigned as one of a relatively small number of "forward observers" in the Project Upshot/Knothole ("Dirty Harry") atomic test, which was the most powerful test (32 kiloton) over humans ever conducted and the last of the atomic tests
utilizing in-trench observers. He is a Life Member of the National Association of Atomic Veterans, an organization whose ranks have been thinned substantially by members' radiation exposure. After serving in the Air Force, Sergeant Robert Croom came back home to Savannah where his good friends fixed him up with a blind date. He and Jo Eidson went with these friends at the Savannah Theatre to see the movie High Society. There's a long-standing disagreement about that night: who-reached-for-whose-hand-first? Bob claims Jo reached for his hand as they crossed the street after the movie. Jo claims that Bob gently took her hand after the movie to help her across the street. No matter – they have been holding hands for 57 years since.
Bob became an ordained Baptist minister and was a pastor at Hiltonia Baptist Church while a student at Mercer University. For three years, he served as "resident director" for both of the Baptist boys' summer camps (Royal Ambassadors) in Georgia. But he felt a different calling, and became a state-licensed professional social worker, now retired (LMSW/R), and continues as a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW), as well as other professional organizations related to this field. After marrying Jo Eidson in Savannah in 1957, the couple lived in Savannah with Bob's parents and then in Carrollton with Jo's parents when their daughter Yashi Malenka was born. The couple moved to Atlanta when Bob was offered a position with the Fulton County Juvenile Court. His juvenile justice experience (1959-1971), included responsibilities as Probation Officer at the Fulton County Juvenile Court (Atlanta), Detention Center Director, Intake Supervisor, acting Referee, Assistant
Chief Probation Officer, and Chief Probation Officer. He created Georgia's first 24-hour, 7 days/week Juvenile Court Intake Division to provide immediate attention to detained children, created the state's first specialized unit in a juvenile court to respond specifically to cases of child abuse/neglect, reduced clerical file processing of adjustable cases from several months to a few days, significantly reduced staff caseloads, fully integrated the probation staff, created probation staff groups with supervisors, designed
and implemented the first use of county deputy sheriffs rather than juvenile court probation officers to serve warrants and other court papers, and experimented with satellite probation offices in housing projects. He convened meetings of juvenile court workers from across Georgia to establish an ongoing professional organization, the Georgia Juvenile Services Association. He served as Chair of the Georgia Committee of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. He was a long-time member of the National Association of Juvenile Court Judges, and was only the second non-judge who was allowed to participate in the National College of Juvenile Justice (1973) as well as the first to participate in the Graduate College (1977). He assisted in planning and facilitating the first Southern Legislators' Conference on Children and Youth, participated in hosting the first conference in Georgia, and then provided administrative support to subsequent hosting states. His professional background includes consulting and technical assistance in juvenile justice system design, facility construction and use, and related areas.
Bob holds an undergraduate degree from Mercer University (1959 - psychology/philosophy), Masters' degrees from Atlanta University (1970 - Social Work) and from Georgia State University (1977 – Urban Studies/Criminal Justice), and a Ph.D. from Emory University (1983). His research interest at Emory focused primarily on the history of childhood in various cultures. He and his wife have traveled extensively throughout China, in Tibet and other areas of the Far East, in New Zealand and Australia, in Mexico and Peru, and throughout Western Europe.
He received a gubernatorial appointment from Governor Maddox to the State's first Law Enforcement Planning Board and later to its replacement, Georgia's first State Crime Commission. The newly required mandatory training for police did not initially include materials dealing with juvenile delinquency and child abuse, and he was successful in introducing into that new process the two-hour training block which he had been teaching at the State Police Academy in Atlanta. At the request of Governor Jimmy Carter, he served on the study group to analyze the potential impact on Georgia of the National Advisory Commission's Standards and Goals for Criminal Justice, as well as completing other research related to Georgia's responses to children's issues. He designed "Criminal Justice Youth Week" and secured federal funding to implement the program for two summers at the State Police Academy.
He later served by gubernatorial appointment by Governor Joe Frank Harris as Chair of the Governor's Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and was responsible for advising the Governor and the General Assembly on juvenile justice issues, enhancing efforts to improve Georgia's juvenile justice system, and overseeing designated federal funds allocated to the State. When the Advisory Council was statutorily recreated as the State's Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council in 1987, he was reappointed and served until the Council was abolished in 1991, and then served by gubernatorial
appointment on the same-year replacement organization, Georgia's first Commission on Children and Youth. The Commission had statutory responsibility for coordinating all children's programs in the state, encouraging cooperation, determining service needs, funding programs, and evaluating program effectiveness.
Dr. Robert Croom was recruited by Georgia State University to join their institution as a Criminal Justice professor. Prior to his long-planned retirement at the end of 1995, Dr. Croom held positions in the College of Public and Urban Affairs at Georgia State University. During his 25 years at the University (1971-1995), in addition to his teaching responsibilities, he assisted in the transition process which changed the School of Urban Life (humorously referred to as SOUL) to the College of Urban Life and later to the College of Public and Urban Affairs, including the expansion of the traditional criminal justice
and social work majors to include several courses he designed related specifically to elements of the juvenile justice system and to child abuse/neglect. He later served as Acting Chair of the Department of Social Work during its initial and successful BSW accreditation effort. In subsequent years he held sequential positions as Assistant and Associate Dean/Director of Graduate Studies, while also serving as Executive Editor of the Criminal Justice Review, an internationally recognized journal in that field. In 1977, he was designated as Alumni Distinguished Professor. He was appointed to and elected Chair of
GSU's Statutes and By-Laws Committee, where he brought University-wide closure within 18 months to a process which had been stalled for more than a decade. He served as President of the University's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and was selected as a member of Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars. In the three years prior to his planned retirement, he served as Acting Dean of the College of Public and Urban Affairs for two years while the University completed a national search for a Dean. He then completed the 1994-95 academic year as Acting Chair of the Department of Social Work to lead the Department in what became its successful efforts during that year to gain full reaccreditation
of the BSW program, as well as approval by the University System Board of Regents to
offer the MSW program. He held the academic rank of Professor and, at the time of his retirement, was or had been a member of
the faculty of the Department of Criminal Justice, the Department of Social Work, and the School of Public Administration and Urban Studies. In December 1995, in recognition of his many years of service to the University, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia voted him the title, "Professor Emeritus, Public and Urban Affairs."
Bob and his wife, a four-degreed career educator and High School Principal, were appointed as Visiting Professors by the People's Republic of China in 1987 to teach in that country and to arrange continuing academic exchanges. He is a Past President of the Atlanta Chapter, U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association and served for many years as a member of the organization's Southern Region Board of Directors. In both positions, he worked closely with the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Chinese Americans (NACA) in joint-projects. He assisted GSU's Office of International Programs in structuring consistency in the acceptance process for international students and scholars. He frequently
hand-carried acceptances directly to successful applicants in China during his visits there, and the Croom home was made available to students, faculty and researchers arriving from China until more convenient lodging could be found.
In 1989, the International Students Association presented him their Distinguished Faculty Award. In late 1993, the Peruvian Consul invited him and his wife to Peru as consultants on children's issues. He was designated as an honorary faculty member of Universidad Nacional (National University, Peru), and was only the second individual to be named as an honorary member of the Colegio de Abogados de La Libertad (Bar Association, Trujillo).
At the request of colleagues in China, he volunteered in 1994 to serve pro bono as Consultant and General Manager to create the International Wood Materials Trading Company, a project spanning several years that was successful in re-opening a long-closed, multi-building plywood factory in far-northeast China and re-employing the villagers there.
Bob was appointed in 1997 to Georgia's first Municipal Regional Jail Authority and served as Chairman to oversee the final design and construction of a $13 million regional jail with an accompanying public safety and court complex located in Union City, Georgia.
Long-time members of the Fairburn Baptist Church, Bob's pastor requested that he and his wife begin the Celebrate Recovery ministry in their church, so they participated in annual training at Saddleback Church in California and co-led four sessions of this weekly, year-long recovery ministry. They later co-led the 13-week Grief Share ministry, offered twice each year.
Bob's hobbies/interests included classical music, fencing, Kodokan Judo, and the study of languages within and across cultures. Also, both he and his wife have many years experience as volunteers with the Builders for Christ in framing and finishing church-building projects in various states. In addition, they recently served through their church's summer mission programs in the Appalachian areas. Bob and Jo were also active and dedicated volunteers with the Advocates for Special Citizens in the south Fulton area.
A memorial service, A Celebration of Bob's Life, will be held on Saturday, January 4, 2014, 3:00 p.m. at Fairburn First Baptist Church with Rev. Justin Terrell and Rev. Neil Awbry officiating.
Donations in Bob's honor may be made to Fairburn First Baptist Church, Summer Mission Programs. Parrott Funeral Home and Crematory, 770-964-4800.
In the summer of 1949, Bob's oldest brother, Archie joined his younger brother Bob, to hike along the Appalachian Trail. Just one year later, Archie was killed in action in Korea. Bob's youngest brother, Freddy, born with Down syndrome, was so very loved by his "Bobby". Freddy died in 2007 at the age of 63. Bob's other brother, Bill died in 2011. Bob always believed in working hard. His first job at age 10, was as a janitor at the Penn Store in
Savannah – where he worked three afternoons a week. At 11, he moved to the Octagon Premium
Redemption Store to become stock clerk. At 12, he got a paper route that he kept for three years, until he became an usher at the Bijou Theatre where he worked until graduation from Savannah High School. After graduation, Bob served in the U.S. Air Force (Strategic Air Command) during the Korean War, and is a life member of the Korean War Veterans Association. In 1953, he was assigned as one of a relatively small number of "forward observers" in the Project Upshot/Knothole ("Dirty Harry") atomic test, which was the most powerful test (32 kiloton) over humans ever conducted and the last of the atomic tests
utilizing in-trench observers. He is a Life Member of the National Association of Atomic Veterans, an organization whose ranks have been thinned substantially by members' radiation exposure. After serving in the Air Force, Sergeant Robert Croom came back home to Savannah where his good friends fixed him up with a blind date. He and Jo Eidson went with these friends at the Savannah Theatre to see the movie High Society. There's a long-standing disagreement about that night: who-reached-for-whose-hand-first? Bob claims Jo reached for his hand as they crossed the street after the movie. Jo claims that Bob gently took her hand after the movie to help her across the street. No matter – they have been holding hands for 57 years since.
Bob became an ordained Baptist minister and was a pastor at Hiltonia Baptist Church while a student at Mercer University. For three years, he served as "resident director" for both of the Baptist boys' summer camps (Royal Ambassadors) in Georgia. But he felt a different calling, and became a state-licensed professional social worker, now retired (LMSW/R), and continues as a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW), as well as other professional organizations related to this field. After marrying Jo Eidson in Savannah in 1957, the couple lived in Savannah with Bob's parents and then in Carrollton with Jo's parents when their daughter Yashi Malenka was born. The couple moved to Atlanta when Bob was offered a position with the Fulton County Juvenile Court. His juvenile justice experience (1959-1971), included responsibilities as Probation Officer at the Fulton County Juvenile Court (Atlanta), Detention Center Director, Intake Supervisor, acting Referee, Assistant
Chief Probation Officer, and Chief Probation Officer. He created Georgia's first 24-hour, 7 days/week Juvenile Court Intake Division to provide immediate attention to detained children, created the state's first specialized unit in a juvenile court to respond specifically to cases of child abuse/neglect, reduced clerical file processing of adjustable cases from several months to a few days, significantly reduced staff caseloads, fully integrated the probation staff, created probation staff groups with supervisors, designed
and implemented the first use of county deputy sheriffs rather than juvenile court probation officers to serve warrants and other court papers, and experimented with satellite probation offices in housing projects. He convened meetings of juvenile court workers from across Georgia to establish an ongoing professional organization, the Georgia Juvenile Services Association. He served as Chair of the Georgia Committee of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. He was a long-time member of the National Association of Juvenile Court Judges, and was only the second non-judge who was allowed to participate in the National College of Juvenile Justice (1973) as well as the first to participate in the Graduate College (1977). He assisted in planning and facilitating the first Southern Legislators' Conference on Children and Youth, participated in hosting the first conference in Georgia, and then provided administrative support to subsequent hosting states. His professional background includes consulting and technical assistance in juvenile justice system design, facility construction and use, and related areas.
Bob holds an undergraduate degree from Mercer University (1959 - psychology/philosophy), Masters' degrees from Atlanta University (1970 - Social Work) and from Georgia State University (1977 – Urban Studies/Criminal Justice), and a Ph.D. from Emory University (1983). His research interest at Emory focused primarily on the history of childhood in various cultures. He and his wife have traveled extensively throughout China, in Tibet and other areas of the Far East, in New Zealand and Australia, in Mexico and Peru, and throughout Western Europe.
He received a gubernatorial appointment from Governor Maddox to the State's first Law Enforcement Planning Board and later to its replacement, Georgia's first State Crime Commission. The newly required mandatory training for police did not initially include materials dealing with juvenile delinquency and child abuse, and he was successful in introducing into that new process the two-hour training block which he had been teaching at the State Police Academy in Atlanta. At the request of Governor Jimmy Carter, he served on the study group to analyze the potential impact on Georgia of the National Advisory Commission's Standards and Goals for Criminal Justice, as well as completing other research related to Georgia's responses to children's issues. He designed "Criminal Justice Youth Week" and secured federal funding to implement the program for two summers at the State Police Academy.
He later served by gubernatorial appointment by Governor Joe Frank Harris as Chair of the Governor's Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and was responsible for advising the Governor and the General Assembly on juvenile justice issues, enhancing efforts to improve Georgia's juvenile justice system, and overseeing designated federal funds allocated to the State. When the Advisory Council was statutorily recreated as the State's Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council in 1987, he was reappointed and served until the Council was abolished in 1991, and then served by gubernatorial
appointment on the same-year replacement organization, Georgia's first Commission on Children and Youth. The Commission had statutory responsibility for coordinating all children's programs in the state, encouraging cooperation, determining service needs, funding programs, and evaluating program effectiveness.
Dr. Robert Croom was recruited by Georgia State University to join their institution as a Criminal Justice professor. Prior to his long-planned retirement at the end of 1995, Dr. Croom held positions in the College of Public and Urban Affairs at Georgia State University. During his 25 years at the University (1971-1995), in addition to his teaching responsibilities, he assisted in the transition process which changed the School of Urban Life (humorously referred to as SOUL) to the College of Urban Life and later to the College of Public and Urban Affairs, including the expansion of the traditional criminal justice
and social work majors to include several courses he designed related specifically to elements of the juvenile justice system and to child abuse/neglect. He later served as Acting Chair of the Department of Social Work during its initial and successful BSW accreditation effort. In subsequent years he held sequential positions as Assistant and Associate Dean/Director of Graduate Studies, while also serving as Executive Editor of the Criminal Justice Review, an internationally recognized journal in that field. In 1977, he was designated as Alumni Distinguished Professor. He was appointed to and elected Chair of
GSU's Statutes and By-Laws Committee, where he brought University-wide closure within 18 months to a process which had been stalled for more than a decade. He served as President of the University's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and was selected as a member of Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars. In the three years prior to his planned retirement, he served as Acting Dean of the College of Public and Urban Affairs for two years while the University completed a national search for a Dean. He then completed the 1994-95 academic year as Acting Chair of the Department of Social Work to lead the Department in what became its successful efforts during that year to gain full reaccreditation
of the BSW program, as well as approval by the University System Board of Regents to
offer the MSW program. He held the academic rank of Professor and, at the time of his retirement, was or had been a member of
the faculty of the Department of Criminal Justice, the Department of Social Work, and the School of Public Administration and Urban Studies. In December 1995, in recognition of his many years of service to the University, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia voted him the title, "Professor Emeritus, Public and Urban Affairs."
Bob and his wife, a four-degreed career educator and High School Principal, were appointed as Visiting Professors by the People's Republic of China in 1987 to teach in that country and to arrange continuing academic exchanges. He is a Past President of the Atlanta Chapter, U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association and served for many years as a member of the organization's Southern Region Board of Directors. In both positions, he worked closely with the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Chinese Americans (NACA) in joint-projects. He assisted GSU's Office of International Programs in structuring consistency in the acceptance process for international students and scholars. He frequently
hand-carried acceptances directly to successful applicants in China during his visits there, and the Croom home was made available to students, faculty and researchers arriving from China until more convenient lodging could be found.
In 1989, the International Students Association presented him their Distinguished Faculty Award. In late 1993, the Peruvian Consul invited him and his wife to Peru as consultants on children's issues. He was designated as an honorary faculty member of Universidad Nacional (National University, Peru), and was only the second individual to be named as an honorary member of the Colegio de Abogados de La Libertad (Bar Association, Trujillo).
At the request of colleagues in China, he volunteered in 1994 to serve pro bono as Consultant and General Manager to create the International Wood Materials Trading Company, a project spanning several years that was successful in re-opening a long-closed, multi-building plywood factory in far-northeast China and re-employing the villagers there.
Bob was appointed in 1997 to Georgia's first Municipal Regional Jail Authority and served as Chairman to oversee the final design and construction of a $13 million regional jail with an accompanying public safety and court complex located in Union City, Georgia.
Long-time members of the Fairburn Baptist Church, Bob's pastor requested that he and his wife begin the Celebrate Recovery ministry in their church, so they participated in annual training at Saddleback Church in California and co-led four sessions of this weekly, year-long recovery ministry. They later co-led the 13-week Grief Share ministry, offered twice each year.
Bob's hobbies/interests included classical music, fencing, Kodokan Judo, and the study of languages within and across cultures. Also, both he and his wife have many years experience as volunteers with the Builders for Christ in framing and finishing church-building projects in various states. In addition, they recently served through their church's summer mission programs in the Appalachian areas. Bob and Jo were also active and dedicated volunteers with the Advocates for Special Citizens in the south Fulton area.
A memorial service, A Celebration of Bob's Life, will be held on Saturday, January 4, 2014, 3:00 p.m. at Fairburn First Baptist Church with Rev. Justin Terrell and Rev. Neil Awbry officiating.
Donations in Bob's honor may be made to Fairburn First Baptist Church, Summer Mission Programs. Parrott Funeral Home and Crematory, 770-964-4800.
Dr. Robert E. (Bob) Croom, of Union City passed away Friday, December 27, 2013. Bob was born in Dillon, SC on July 24, 1932 to Lillian and Archie Croom, but lived his early life in Savannah, GA. Bob had two older brothers, Archie, Jr. and Bill; and one younger brother, Freddy. As you can imagine, the four were great friends: When Bob was little, Archie and Bill painted his glasses with white shoe polish – Bill said that Bobby liked it! Despite the normal amount of brotherly roughhousing, the boys were genuinely devoted to each other.
In the summer of 1949, Bob's oldest brother, Archie joined his younger brother Bob, to hike along the Appalachian Trail. Just one year later, Archie was killed in action in Korea. Bob's youngest brother, Freddy, born with Down syndrome, was so very loved by his "Bobby". Freddy died in 2007 at the age of 63. Bob's other brother, Bill died in 2011. Bob always believed in working hard. His first job at age 10, was as a janitor at the Penn Store in
Savannah – where he worked three afternoons a week. At 11, he moved to the Octagon Premium
Redemption Store to become stock clerk. At 12, he got a paper route that he kept for three years, until he became an usher at the Bijou Theatre where he worked until graduation from Savannah High School. After graduation, Bob served in the U.S. Air Force (Strategic Air Command) during the Korean War, and is a life member of the Korean War Veterans Association. In 1953, he was assigned as one of a relatively small number of "forward observers" in the Project Upshot/Knothole ("Dirty Harry") atomic test, which was the most powerful test (32 kiloton) over humans ever conducted and the last of the atomic tests
utilizing in-trench observers. He is a Life Member of the National Association of Atomic Veterans, an organization whose ranks have been thinned substantially by members' radiation exposure. After serving in the Air Force, Sergeant Robert Croom came back home to Savannah where his good friends fixed him up with a blind date. He and Jo Eidson went with these friends at the Savannah Theatre to see the movie High Society. There's a long-standing disagreement about that night: who-reached-for-whose-hand-first? Bob claims Jo reached for his hand as they crossed the street after the movie. Jo claims that Bob gently took her hand after the movie to help her across the street. No matter – they have been holding hands for 57 years since.
Bob became an ordained Baptist minister and was a pastor at Hiltonia Baptist Church while a student at Mercer University. For three years, he served as "resident director" for both of the Baptist boys' summer camps (Royal Ambassadors) in Georgia. But he felt a different calling, and became a state-licensed professional social worker, now retired (LMSW/R), and continues as a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW), as well as other professional organizations related to this field. After marrying Jo Eidson in Savannah in 1957, the couple lived in Savannah with Bob's parents and then in Carrollton with Jo's parents when their daughter Yashi Malenka was born. The couple moved to Atlanta when Bob was offered a position with the Fulton County Juvenile Court. His juvenile justice experience (1959-1971), included responsibilities as Probation Officer at the Fulton County Juvenile Court (Atlanta), Detention Center Director, Intake Supervisor, acting Referee, Assistant
Chief Probation Officer, and Chief Probation Officer. He created Georgia's first 24-hour, 7 days/week Juvenile Court Intake Division to provide immediate attention to detained children, created the state's first specialized unit in a juvenile court to respond specifically to cases of child abuse/neglect, reduced clerical file processing of adjustable cases from several months to a few days, significantly reduced staff caseloads, fully integrated the probation staff, created probation staff groups with supervisors, designed
and implemented the first use of county deputy sheriffs rather than juvenile court probation officers to serve warrants and other court papers, and experimented with satellite probation offices in housing projects. He convened meetings of juvenile court workers from across Georgia to establish an ongoing professional organization, the Georgia Juvenile Services Association. He served as Chair of the Georgia Committee of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. He was a long-time member of the National Association of Juvenile Court Judges, and was only the second non-judge who was allowed to participate in the National College of Juvenile Justice (1973) as well as the first to participate in the Graduate College (1977). He assisted in planning and facilitating the first Southern Legislators' Conference on Children and Youth, participated in hosting the first conference in Georgia, and then provided administrative support to subsequent hosting states. His professional background includes consulting and technical assistance in juvenile justice system design, facility construction and use, and related areas.
Bob holds an undergraduate degree from Mercer University (1959 - psychology/philosophy), Masters' degrees from Atlanta University (1970 - Social Work) and from Georgia State University (1977 – Urban Studies/Criminal Justice), and a Ph.D. from Emory University (1983). His research interest at Emory focused primarily on the history of childhood in various cultures. He and his wife have traveled extensively throughout China, in Tibet and other areas of the Far East, in New Zealand and Australia, in Mexico and Peru, and throughout Western Europe.
He received a gubernatorial appointment from Governor Maddox to the State's first Law Enforcement Planning Board and later to its replacement, Georgia's first State Crime Commission. The newly required mandatory training for police did not initially include materials dealing with juvenile delinquency and child abuse, and he was successful in introducing into that new process the two-hour training block which he had been teaching at the State Police Academy in Atlanta. At the request of Governor Jimmy Carter, he served on the study group to analyze the potential impact on Georgia of the National Advisory Commission's Standards and Goals for Criminal Justice, as well as completing other research related to Georgia's responses to children's issues. He designed "Criminal Justice Youth Week" and secured federal funding to implement the program for two summers at the State Police Academy.
He later served by gubernatorial appointment by Governor Joe Frank Harris as Chair of the Governor's Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and was responsible for advising the Governor and the General Assembly on juvenile justice issues, enhancing efforts to improve Georgia's juvenile justice system, and overseeing designated federal funds allocated to the State. When the Advisory Council was statutorily recreated as the State's Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council in 1987, he was reappointed and served until the Council was abolished in 1991, and then served by gubernatorial
appointment on the same-year replacement organization, Georgia's first Commission on Children and Youth. The Commission had statutory responsibility for coordinating all children's programs in the state, encouraging cooperation, determining service needs, funding programs, and evaluating program effectiveness.
Dr. Robert Croom was recruited by Georgia State University to join their institution as a Criminal Justice professor. Prior to his long-planned retirement at the end of 1995, Dr. Croom held positions in the College of Public and Urban Affairs at Georgia State University. During his 25 years at the University (1971-1995), in addition to his teaching responsibilities, he assisted in the transition process which changed the School of Urban Life (humorously referred to as SOUL) to the College of Urban Life and later to the College of Public and Urban Affairs, including the expansion of the traditional criminal justice
and social work majors to include several courses he designed related specifically to elements of the juvenile justice system and to child abuse/neglect. He later served as Acting Chair of the Department of Social Work during its initial and successful BSW accreditation effort. In subsequent years he held sequential positions as Assistant and Associate Dean/Director of Graduate Studies, while also serving as Executive Editor of the Criminal Justice Review, an internationally recognized journal in that field. In 1977, he was designated as Alumni Distinguished Professor. He was appointed to and elected Chair of
GSU's Statutes and By-Laws Committee, where he brought University-wide closure within 18 months to a process which had been stalled for more than a decade. He served as President of the University's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and was selected as a member of Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars. In the three years prior to his planned retirement, he served as Acting Dean of the College of Public and Urban Affairs for two years while the University completed a national search for a Dean. He then completed the 1994-95 academic year as Acting Chair of the Department of Social Work to lead the Department in what became its successful efforts during that year to gain full reaccreditation
of the BSW program, as well as approval by the University System Board of Regents to
offer the MSW program. He held the academic rank of Professor and, at the time of his retirement, was or had been a member of
the faculty of the Department of Criminal Justice, the Department of Social Work, and the School of Public Administration and Urban Studies. In December 1995, in recognition of his many years of service to the University, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia voted him the title, "Professor Emeritus, Public and Urban Affairs."
Bob and his wife, a four-degreed career educator and High School Principal, were appointed as Visiting Professors by the People's Republic of China in 1987 to teach in that country and to arrange continuing academic exchanges. He is a Past President of the Atlanta Chapter, U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association and served for many years as a member of the organization's Southern Region Board of Directors. In both positions, he worked closely with the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Chinese Americans (NACA) in joint-projects. He assisted GSU's Office of International Programs in structuring consistency in the acceptance process for international students and scholars. He frequently
hand-carried acceptances directly to successful applicants in China during his visits there, and the Croom home was made available to students, faculty and researchers arriving from China until more convenient lodging could be found.
In 1989, the International Students Association presented him their Distinguished Faculty Award. In late 1993, the Peruvian Consul invited him and his wife to Peru as consultants on children's issues. He was designated as an honorary faculty member of Universidad Nacional (National University, Peru), and was only the second individual to be named as an honorary member of the Colegio de Abogados de La Libertad (Bar Association, Trujillo).
At the request of colleagues in China, he volunteered in 1994 to serve pro bono as Consultant and General Manager to create the International Wood Materials Trading Company, a project spanning several years that was successful in re-opening a long-closed, multi-building plywood factory in far-northeast China and re-employing the villagers there.
Bob was appointed in 1997 to Georgia's first Municipal Regional Jail Authority and served as Chairman to oversee the final design and construction of a $13 million regional jail with an accompanying public safety and court complex located in Union City, Georgia.
Long-time members of the Fairburn Baptist Church, Bob's pastor requested that he and his wife begin the Celebrate Recovery ministry in their church, so they participated in annual training at Saddleback Church in California and co-led four sessions of this weekly, year-long recovery ministry. They later co-led the 13-week Grief Share ministry, offered twice each year.
Bob's hobbies/interests included classical music, fencing, Kodokan Judo, and the study of languages within and across cultures. Also, both he and his wife have many years experience as volunteers with the Builders for Christ in framing and finishing church-building projects in various states. In addition, they recently served through their church's summer mission programs in the Appalachian areas. Bob and Jo were also active and dedicated volunteers with the Advocates for Special Citizens in the south Fulton area.
A memorial service, A Celebration of Bob's Life, will be held on Saturday, January 4, 2014, 3:00 p.m. at Fairburn First Baptist Church with Rev. Justin Terrell and Rev. Neil Awbry officiating.
Donations in Bob's honor may be made to Fairburn First Baptist Church, Summer Mission Programs. Parrott Funeral Home and Crematory, 770-964-4800.
In the summer of 1949, Bob's oldest brother, Archie joined his younger brother Bob, to hike along the Appalachian Trail. Just one year later, Archie was killed in action in Korea. Bob's youngest brother, Freddy, born with Down syndrome, was so very loved by his "Bobby". Freddy died in 2007 at the age of 63. Bob's other brother, Bill died in 2011. Bob always believed in working hard. His first job at age 10, was as a janitor at the Penn Store in
Savannah – where he worked three afternoons a week. At 11, he moved to the Octagon Premium
Redemption Store to become stock clerk. At 12, he got a paper route that he kept for three years, until he became an usher at the Bijou Theatre where he worked until graduation from Savannah High School. After graduation, Bob served in the U.S. Air Force (Strategic Air Command) during the Korean War, and is a life member of the Korean War Veterans Association. In 1953, he was assigned as one of a relatively small number of "forward observers" in the Project Upshot/Knothole ("Dirty Harry") atomic test, which was the most powerful test (32 kiloton) over humans ever conducted and the last of the atomic tests
utilizing in-trench observers. He is a Life Member of the National Association of Atomic Veterans, an organization whose ranks have been thinned substantially by members' radiation exposure. After serving in the Air Force, Sergeant Robert Croom came back home to Savannah where his good friends fixed him up with a blind date. He and Jo Eidson went with these friends at the Savannah Theatre to see the movie High Society. There's a long-standing disagreement about that night: who-reached-for-whose-hand-first? Bob claims Jo reached for his hand as they crossed the street after the movie. Jo claims that Bob gently took her hand after the movie to help her across the street. No matter – they have been holding hands for 57 years since.
Bob became an ordained Baptist minister and was a pastor at Hiltonia Baptist Church while a student at Mercer University. For three years, he served as "resident director" for both of the Baptist boys' summer camps (Royal Ambassadors) in Georgia. But he felt a different calling, and became a state-licensed professional social worker, now retired (LMSW/R), and continues as a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW), as well as other professional organizations related to this field. After marrying Jo Eidson in Savannah in 1957, the couple lived in Savannah with Bob's parents and then in Carrollton with Jo's parents when their daughter Yashi Malenka was born. The couple moved to Atlanta when Bob was offered a position with the Fulton County Juvenile Court. His juvenile justice experience (1959-1971), included responsibilities as Probation Officer at the Fulton County Juvenile Court (Atlanta), Detention Center Director, Intake Supervisor, acting Referee, Assistant
Chief Probation Officer, and Chief Probation Officer. He created Georgia's first 24-hour, 7 days/week Juvenile Court Intake Division to provide immediate attention to detained children, created the state's first specialized unit in a juvenile court to respond specifically to cases of child abuse/neglect, reduced clerical file processing of adjustable cases from several months to a few days, significantly reduced staff caseloads, fully integrated the probation staff, created probation staff groups with supervisors, designed
and implemented the first use of county deputy sheriffs rather than juvenile court probation officers to serve warrants and other court papers, and experimented with satellite probation offices in housing projects. He convened meetings of juvenile court workers from across Georgia to establish an ongoing professional organization, the Georgia Juvenile Services Association. He served as Chair of the Georgia Committee of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. He was a long-time member of the National Association of Juvenile Court Judges, and was only the second non-judge who was allowed to participate in the National College of Juvenile Justice (1973) as well as the first to participate in the Graduate College (1977). He assisted in planning and facilitating the first Southern Legislators' Conference on Children and Youth, participated in hosting the first conference in Georgia, and then provided administrative support to subsequent hosting states. His professional background includes consulting and technical assistance in juvenile justice system design, facility construction and use, and related areas.
Bob holds an undergraduate degree from Mercer University (1959 - psychology/philosophy), Masters' degrees from Atlanta University (1970 - Social Work) and from Georgia State University (1977 – Urban Studies/Criminal Justice), and a Ph.D. from Emory University (1983). His research interest at Emory focused primarily on the history of childhood in various cultures. He and his wife have traveled extensively throughout China, in Tibet and other areas of the Far East, in New Zealand and Australia, in Mexico and Peru, and throughout Western Europe.
He received a gubernatorial appointment from Governor Maddox to the State's first Law Enforcement Planning Board and later to its replacement, Georgia's first State Crime Commission. The newly required mandatory training for police did not initially include materials dealing with juvenile delinquency and child abuse, and he was successful in introducing into that new process the two-hour training block which he had been teaching at the State Police Academy in Atlanta. At the request of Governor Jimmy Carter, he served on the study group to analyze the potential impact on Georgia of the National Advisory Commission's Standards and Goals for Criminal Justice, as well as completing other research related to Georgia's responses to children's issues. He designed "Criminal Justice Youth Week" and secured federal funding to implement the program for two summers at the State Police Academy.
He later served by gubernatorial appointment by Governor Joe Frank Harris as Chair of the Governor's Advisory Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and was responsible for advising the Governor and the General Assembly on juvenile justice issues, enhancing efforts to improve Georgia's juvenile justice system, and overseeing designated federal funds allocated to the State. When the Advisory Council was statutorily recreated as the State's Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council in 1987, he was reappointed and served until the Council was abolished in 1991, and then served by gubernatorial
appointment on the same-year replacement organization, Georgia's first Commission on Children and Youth. The Commission had statutory responsibility for coordinating all children's programs in the state, encouraging cooperation, determining service needs, funding programs, and evaluating program effectiveness.
Dr. Robert Croom was recruited by Georgia State University to join their institution as a Criminal Justice professor. Prior to his long-planned retirement at the end of 1995, Dr. Croom held positions in the College of Public and Urban Affairs at Georgia State University. During his 25 years at the University (1971-1995), in addition to his teaching responsibilities, he assisted in the transition process which changed the School of Urban Life (humorously referred to as SOUL) to the College of Urban Life and later to the College of Public and Urban Affairs, including the expansion of the traditional criminal justice
and social work majors to include several courses he designed related specifically to elements of the juvenile justice system and to child abuse/neglect. He later served as Acting Chair of the Department of Social Work during its initial and successful BSW accreditation effort. In subsequent years he held sequential positions as Assistant and Associate Dean/Director of Graduate Studies, while also serving as Executive Editor of the Criminal Justice Review, an internationally recognized journal in that field. In 1977, he was designated as Alumni Distinguished Professor. He was appointed to and elected Chair of
GSU's Statutes and By-Laws Committee, where he brought University-wide closure within 18 months to a process which had been stalled for more than a decade. He served as President of the University's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and was selected as a member of Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars. In the three years prior to his planned retirement, he served as Acting Dean of the College of Public and Urban Affairs for two years while the University completed a national search for a Dean. He then completed the 1994-95 academic year as Acting Chair of the Department of Social Work to lead the Department in what became its successful efforts during that year to gain full reaccreditation
of the BSW program, as well as approval by the University System Board of Regents to
offer the MSW program. He held the academic rank of Professor and, at the time of his retirement, was or had been a member of
the faculty of the Department of Criminal Justice, the Department of Social Work, and the School of Public Administration and Urban Studies. In December 1995, in recognition of his many years of service to the University, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia voted him the title, "Professor Emeritus, Public and Urban Affairs."
Bob and his wife, a four-degreed career educator and High School Principal, were appointed as Visiting Professors by the People's Republic of China in 1987 to teach in that country and to arrange continuing academic exchanges. He is a Past President of the Atlanta Chapter, U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association and served for many years as a member of the organization's Southern Region Board of Directors. In both positions, he worked closely with the Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Chinese Americans (NACA) in joint-projects. He assisted GSU's Office of International Programs in structuring consistency in the acceptance process for international students and scholars. He frequently
hand-carried acceptances directly to successful applicants in China during his visits there, and the Croom home was made available to students, faculty and researchers arriving from China until more convenient lodging could be found.
In 1989, the International Students Association presented him their Distinguished Faculty Award. In late 1993, the Peruvian Consul invited him and his wife to Peru as consultants on children's issues. He was designated as an honorary faculty member of Universidad Nacional (National University, Peru), and was only the second individual to be named as an honorary member of the Colegio de Abogados de La Libertad (Bar Association, Trujillo).
At the request of colleagues in China, he volunteered in 1994 to serve pro bono as Consultant and General Manager to create the International Wood Materials Trading Company, a project spanning several years that was successful in re-opening a long-closed, multi-building plywood factory in far-northeast China and re-employing the villagers there.
Bob was appointed in 1997 to Georgia's first Municipal Regional Jail Authority and served as Chairman to oversee the final design and construction of a $13 million regional jail with an accompanying public safety and court complex located in Union City, Georgia.
Long-time members of the Fairburn Baptist Church, Bob's pastor requested that he and his wife begin the Celebrate Recovery ministry in their church, so they participated in annual training at Saddleback Church in California and co-led four sessions of this weekly, year-long recovery ministry. They later co-led the 13-week Grief Share ministry, offered twice each year.
Bob's hobbies/interests included classical music, fencing, Kodokan Judo, and the study of languages within and across cultures. Also, both he and his wife have many years experience as volunteers with the Builders for Christ in framing and finishing church-building projects in various states. In addition, they recently served through their church's summer mission programs in the Appalachian areas. Bob and Jo were also active and dedicated volunteers with the Advocates for Special Citizens in the south Fulton area.
A memorial service, A Celebration of Bob's Life, will be held on Saturday, January 4, 2014, 3:00 p.m. at Fairburn First Baptist Church with Rev. Justin Terrell and Rev. Neil Awbry officiating.
Donations in Bob's honor may be made to Fairburn First Baptist Church, Summer Mission Programs. Parrott Funeral Home and Crematory, 770-964-4800.
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