Roy Franklin Cromer II
- Published: February 23, 2026
Roy Franklin Cromer II, 71, of Tucson, Arizona, died on Feb. 4, 2026, following a sudden illness.
Frank was born on the U.S. Air Force Base in Wiesbaden, Germany, to Roy Franklin Cromer and Ruth Amanda Cromer on Aug. 12, 1955. Raised in a family with his four brothers, Frank’s hometown was Westerville, Ohio. He graduated from Westerville High School with the class of 1973.
An avid comedian, writer, filmmaker and animator, Frank made his first movie — a “Romeo and Juliet” parody — for an English class at age 14. In 1979, he earned a B.A. in photography and cinema at Ohio State University.
During the course of his long freelance career, Frank performed stand-up, wrote comedy pieces for the American Comedy Network and The Gary Burbank Show, produced a cable-access TV program in Los Angeles, created documentary films, and had an animation featured on the Conan O’Brien show in 2008. He lived in Houston and Los Angeles, returned to Ohio to aid his elderly mother, and spent the final years of his life in Tucson, Arizona.
His self-written bio on his IMDb page can be seen at imdb.com/name/nm0188613/.
Frank was preceded in death by his parents and brothers Jim and Daniel. He is survived by his brothers William Distelhorst and Bruce Cromer; his sisters-in-law Connie Distelhorst, Christine Distelhorst and Carol Allin; and his nieces and nephews, Rusty Distelhorst, Roy Distelhorst, Steven Distelhorst, Charles Cromer, Toby Cromer, Elliot Cromer, Tonya Cubbage, Amy Smith, Shannon Cromer and Sean Cromer.
He was a beloved son, brother, uncle and friend, and a lifelong creator and lover of the art of Comedy.
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