James Conrad Croninger

1945 - 2022

News Story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer


James Conrad Croninger, a third-generation railroad engineer and military veteran, who channeled his longstanding theater interest - and carpentry skills - into set building for the Toledo Ballet, died Sunday in ProMedica Ebeid Hospice, Sylvania. He was 76.

He had Parkinson's disease and learned in January that he had acute leukemia, said his daughter, Condessa Croninger.

He followed his grandfather Clelan Croninger and his father, Conrad Croninger, in railroad work, retiring in 2006 as a Norfolk Southern Railway engineer. He'd begun 40 years earlier with the former New York Central System.

While a University of Toledo student, he'd worked summers on the railroad. He aspired to an academic career, but found the pay level of railroad work would best support a family. And so he chose the family profession.

"It made for a wonderful life. We had a wonderful life," his wife, Patty Croninger, said.

His son Chris Croninger said: "He did everything he could to make sure his family was provided for, no matter the hours."

Mr. Croninger's trains ran from Toledo east to Cleveland, eventually to Buffalo and to Pittsburgh. He was on call 24 hours and, in the early years, he had eight hours of rest between runs, but the railroad could call him starting in the sixth hour, his wife said.

"Railroad engineer life is very committed," his wife said.

His job allowed time for his commitment in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He retired in 1991 as commander of the reserve detachment to the USS America, an aircraft carrier.

His Grandfather Croninger was a veteran of World War I. His father was a Marine Corps veteran of World War II and the Korean War. And when he had the opportunity, he enlisted, said his son, who was a Naval aviator.

"I grew up with that around me all the time," his son said. "My grandfather was a Marine Corps pilot. These guys were my heroes. This is what they did."

Mr. Croninger was a 1967 graduate of Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Fla. He was stationed in Japan as a flight officer with regular rotations to Da Nang during the Vietnam War.

As a reservist, he was attached to three different squadrons at Selfridge Air National Guard Base near Mount Clemens, Mich. His job was submarine hunting as a tactical navigator aboard a P3 Orion, his son said.

A third-generation military veteran, Mr. Croninger served as 2012-13 commander of the George Rill VFW Post 606. While his health allowed it, he was a member of the honor guard, often serving as bugler, during graveside services for veterans, said Jerry Newman, the post's senior vice commander.

"He was dedicated to that," Mr. Newman said.

Mr. Croninger was born Dec. 5, 1945, in Toledo to Marcienne and Conrad Croninger. At his birth, his father had not yet returned home from service in the South Pacific. The family moved for a time to North Carolina when his father was called back to service at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point during the Korean War.

The family settled on Glenview Road near the Toledo Zoo, where the lions' roars could be heard through open windows on summer evenings. He was a 1963 graduate of St. Francis de Sales High School, where he was a cheerleader and helped build floats for school events.

At the University of Toledo, he appeared onstage in productions of Antigone and Chekhov's Three Sisters. But he flourished offstage, where he used the carpentry skills his grandfather taught him to build sets and scenery.

"He very much enjoyed the technical side," his wife said.

For his work, he was honored in 1965 with a "Norma" from the honorary society National Collegiate Players, an award named for Norma Stolzenbach of the speech and drama department. He received a bachelor's degree in theater in 1967 and later took graduate courses in technical theater from Miami University.

In the 1960s, he had helped build sets for the Toledo Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. He pitched in again for Toledo Ballet set and prop building from 2009-17.

"He preferred being behind the scenes, because of his modesty," said his daughter, art director of 20 North Gallery. "He enjoyed the creative power. It was building a world that people could inhabit together for a brief time, before that world would end with the drop of the curtain."

A gourmet cook, even on camping adventures, he was known to start planning the next multi-course meal weeks in advance, his wife said.

"The kitchen was all his," she said.

He was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous since 2006.

Surviving are his wife, the former Patricia Claxton, whom he married March 2, 1968; daughter, Condessa Croninger; son, Christopher Croninger; sister, Pat Stewart, and three grandchildren.

Funeral services will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at Reeb Funeral Home in Sylvania, with visitation after 11 a.m. Saturday.

The family suggests tributes to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research or Toledo Ballet.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. He can be contacted at mzaborney@theblade.com.