Former alderwoman Robin Kroogman, a member of the Board of Aldermen from 1988 to 2003, passed away Monday at the age of 54.
During her 16 years on the Board, Kroogman served as majority leader, chair of the Community Development Committee and a member of the Livable City Initiative Board. She also created and chaired the Public Safety Committee.
Ward 1 Alderman Ben Healey ’04, who represents most of the Yale campus, said Kroogman will be remembered as a strong voice on the Board.
“She was always very fiery, very strong, very committed to her goals,” said Healey, who served alongside Kroogman for roughly one full term. “She was just a tough woman, and you knew that her ‘yes’ was a yes, and that was important. She’ll definitely be missed.”
Ward 4 Alderwoman Andrea Jackson-Brooks, a close friend of Kroogman, said the former alderwoman was particularly interested in improving environmental conditions, providing adequate housing and developing small business and job growth in her home community of Fair Haven.
“She was concerned with anything to do with the Fair Haven area,” Jackson-Brooks said. “That’s where she lived. That’s what she loved.”
In addition to her work on the Board of Aldermen, Kroogman was involved with the Fair Haven Development Corporation and with Fighting Back, a community-based project to decrease substance abuse. She was also a self-employed government relations consultant.
Most of all, though, Kroogman’s peers said she will be remembered for her friendship.
“Robin was a very caring individual,” Jackson-Brooks said. “When you had Robin, you had a real friend. She stuck with you through thick and thin, no matter what.”
Services for Kroogman will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Shure Funeral Home, located at 543 George St.
— Marcel Przymusinski