Crome Richard Dollase

Crome Richard Dollase, of Sarasota, FL, passed away on Aug. 31, 2018.
Born and raised in Menomonee Falls, WI, Mr. Dollase graduated with a degree in business administration from Valparaiso University, where he met his wife of 63 years, Joanna Karkau. They were blessed with five daughters: Kristen (William) Nevious, Karen (Steven) Dopson, Ellen (Rick) Wilcox, Ann (Doug) Trolley, and Patricia (Ricardo) Rivera; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Mr. Dollase started his career in health insurance as a claims examiner at Continental Casualty in Chicago, joining Mutual of New York Life Insurance Company three years later as a regional group claims manager. Over the next three decades with MONY, before his retirement in 1989 as vice president for health insurance, his career took him to New York City and Syracuse. Fourteen years ago, the Dollases made Sarasota their home.
Along the way, Mr. Dollase found the opportunity to be active in church, civic and charitable causes.
At Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Syracuse, he was a church leader at the local and district levels, serving in retirement as a lay member of the Eastern District Board of Directors. He was similarly a valuable member of the St. Armand’s Key Lutheran Church in Sarasota. One of the real blessings of his life, Mr. Dollase said, “was to be introduced to Dial Hope by our departed dear friend George Manser, and to experience the work of the late Roger Kunkel and Joe Albright.”
He was very active in the communities he called home, serving as president of the Erie County Museum and Urban Cultural Park Visitors’ Center in Syracuse; trustee of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra; interim president and trustee of the Better Business Bureau of Central New York; Executive Committee of the MONY Federal Credit Union; and founder and president of the Manlius Historical Society and Museum. In 1981, he was named Citizen of the Year by the Syracuse Rotary Club. He was also active in the Downtown Sarasota Kiwanis.
A memorial service celebrating the resurrection and the life of Crome R. Dollase will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22, at St. Armand’s Key Lutheran Church, 40 North Adams Drive, Sarasota, FL 34236. Lunch follows in the church hall.
Mr. Dollase is survived by his wife, his daughters and their families and sisters Donna Dollase, and Nancy Radcliffe. He was preceded in death by sister Sharon Dollase.
The family requests that memorials be made to:
Camp Pioneer, specifically for Karkau Lodge, which is named for Joanna’s father, the Rev. Gustav Karkau, who helped found the Lutheran retreat, at 9324 Lake Shore Road, Angola, NY 14006.
St. Armand’s Key Lutheran Church Foundation.