Howard Arthur Fromson

Howard Arthur Fromson, 99, of Stonington, CT died peacefully Sunday (June 27, 2021) at Hartford Hospital with his family at his side. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio to the late Morris and Hilda (Bloch) Fromson, two young Polish-Jewish immigrants. Howard is survived by his wife of 28 years, Sandra Bender Fromson and his four children, Michele Fromson (Cordell Ho), Michael Fromson (Donna Martinez), Timothy (Roxanne) Fromson, and Brett D. Fromson. He has nine grandchildren, Daniel Fromson, Peter Fromson (fiancé Charlotte Welbourn), James Fromson, Zachary Fromson, Mark Fromson, Ally Fromson Ho, Annie Fromson Ho, Evan Martinez and Andrea Martinez Frey (Kelly). In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother Milton G. Fromson. Howard had an insatiable curiosity about people and ideas. He was an inventor, artist, and philanthropist. He was committed to equal access to education and established the Fromson Scholars, which supported more than 500 Hartford, Enfield, and Rockville teachers' attendance at the Taft summer school, where they participated in intensive workshops-exchanging ideas and collaborating with colleagues. In 1997 he received recognition from the State Board of Education and the Commissioner of Education for, "Extraordinary Efforts to Improve Public Elementary and Secondary Education in Connecticut." He also understood the importance of arts and libraries to all in the community. He was educated in the Shaker Heights School System in greater Cleveland and graduated as salutatorian of his class in 1939. At Harvard University he began his studies in History and Literature but switched to Economics in his junior year. He graduated cum laude with magna cum laude thesis. He entered the Air Force as a meteorological cadet. During his training in Greensboro, NC he was called to Washington to join the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). He prepared for overseas intelligence and joined a small intelligence group assigned to prepare for the invasion of Italy as part of the 2677th Regiment of OSS in North Africa attached to General Mark Clark's 5th Army. There, shortly after the Caserta Landing, he was granted a field commission to Lieutenant. He continued with the regiment up the Italian peninsula and Austria to his final station in Vienna, Austria. Upon Fromson's return to the U.S. in June 1945 he settled in New York City and joined Kurt Orban company, a prominent export-import house. (Later in life he settled in Connecticut, in Weston, Hartford, and Stonington). He subsequently began an import operation of his own, which became the Fromson-Orban company. In the 1950's Fromson became interested in the then new continuous coil anodizing process and went on to invent the first successful long run anodized lithographic plate in the U.S, ultimately founding Anocoil, a Connecticut-based manufacturer of printing plates in 1958. This breakthrough enabled him to spearhead the switch of most of the nation's metropolitan newspapers from letter press to lithography, including the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the L.A. Times. He also licensed the process to E. I. DuPont, Fuji, and others. During his career, he had an insatiable curiosity, and was always exploring new things. He attributed his success to persistence and not being afraid to fail. During his career Fromson was granted more than 100 patents. He retired in 2016 at 94. In his later years, Fromson developed an interest in the tetrahedron (a three-dimensional shape with four triangular faces) and its potential use both in industry and in sculpture. His work was introduced to the New Britain Museum of Art by the artist Sol LeWitt, and his tetra chairs and towers have been exhibited at the Wadsworth Atheneum and Real Art Ways. In addition to private collections, they are also in the collections of the New Britain Museum of American Art, Lincoln Sculpture Walkway, the Hartford Public Library, Riverfront Recapture, University of Hartford, and at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. He loved family vacations, which for many years were held annually, and travel. His most recent trip (at 96) was on a riverboat up the Danube and then on to Berlin, a city he had long wanted to visit. He lived life to its fullest in the best of ways. Funeral services will be private. A memorial service is planned for later this summer. Contributions may be made to Real Art Ways, Hartford Public Library, or Hartford Youth Scholars Foundation, all of Hartford.