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In memory of
Harry Kroll, Jr.
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Harry's obituary
Please help celebrate his life with his family on Sunday, November 10, 2019 from Noon - 5:00 pm at Crystal Sky Banquet, 7941 47th Street, McCook, Illinois, 60534.
He was born May 11, 1930 to Myrtle and Harry Kroll of Chicago, Illinois. Harry was the fourth oldest of seven siblings. Myrtle (Dimps) Weinberg of Arlington Heights, Illinois is his only remaining sibling. He joined the Merchant Marines at a young age and then joined the United States Marine Corps. He was a Staff Sargent who served in the Korean War and finished his tenure at 29 Palms MCAGCC Marine Base in California.
Harry married his bride, Olga (Magas) Kroll of Cicero, Illinois, on August 5, 1951. Olga passed on July 16, 2008. Harry and Olga enjoyed 67 years of marriage. Harry is survived by his daughter Pamela (Dan) Kesselring, of Elgin, Illinois and his three sons: Michael (Donna) of Brighton, Colorado; Dennis of Lombard, Illinois; and Gregory (Stephanie) of San Antonio, Texas. Harry and Olga have five grandchildren: Meagan Bentley, Joel Cohen, Erin Murphy, Lauren Kroll, and Morgan Kroll; and five great-grandchildren: Brayden and Grayson Bentley, Avid and Leo Cohen, and Lucas Murphy.
In 1991, Harry retired from Procter & Gamble in Chicago, Illinois as a project engineer, pipefitter and welder. Prior to P&G, Harry worked for the Goss Printing Company in Cicero, Illinois. When Olga passed in 2008, Harry moved to the hill country of Boerne, Texas where he continued to enjoy his retirement and the company of his son Greg and daughter-in-law Stephanie.
Since his teenage years, Harry’s hobby had been breeding and racing homing pigeons - “The race horses of the sky.” Throughout his entire adulthood and retirement, Harry always had an active loft of racing pigeons. The Chicago Tribune interviewed Harry in 2006 to publish two articles to increase readers’ awareness of this unique and challenging sport of breeding racer-quality pigeons. He was awarded the AU Elwin Anderson Legends of the Sport Award in 2016. He was named Legend for his contributions to the sport. AU Legends are individuals who have served to enhance the sport as a whole on a more local or regional level. (Homing pigeons instinctively return to the loft from which they were born after being liberated on races 100-500 miles away from home.) His remaining breeder birds will be auctioned for thousands of dollars due to their accredited pedigrees and lineage of winning.
God liberated Harry on May 11, 1930. His race ended and he returned home on October 22, 2019. He will be buried beside his wife Olga at the Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.
The articles chronicling Harry’s passion for pigeon racing include: ‘Fly Away Home’ (https://www.chicagotribune.co…) and ‘Pigeon Racer- Wait Until Next Year’ (https://www.chicagotribune.co…)
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Created with love by
Donna Kroll.
