WHITE PLAINS—The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors and the staff of Real Estate In-Depth regret to inform the membership and newspaper readership of the passing of John Vrooman, who died suddenly on June 5, 2022, at the age of 57 in upstate Lewiston, NY.
John authored “Tech Talk” in HGAR’s monthly newspaper Real Estate In-Depth since August 2000. From day one he provided insightful and useful computer and technology advice to the more than 13,000 readers of the newspaper each month. The latest survey of its readership found that John’s column was one of the most widely read of all the columns published regularly in the newspaper.
He was the son of long-time Westchester Realtor Bill Vrooman and his wife Barbara. He was Vice President-Technology for the White Plains firm of Nelson-Vrooman Associates for more than 20 years prior to its merger with Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty in 2008. John was often referred to as Nelson-Vrooman’s “real estate guru”—a title he often enjoyed hearing from his fellow associates, Bill Vrooman shared. He was an Associate Broker with BH&G Rand Realty for more than 11 years until his relocation to Lewiston, NY in 2019.
John was a graduate of White Plains High School and Ohio Wesleyan University. In addition to his affiliations with HGAR, NAR and NYSAR, he also earned the GRI and CRS designations.
“John so thoroughly enjoyed his role as Tech Talk columnist over the years,” said Bill Vrooman, who has been in the real estate industry for more than 50 years. “He loved doing real estate technology research to share with his Realtor colleagues through the monthly column he wrote. He was, also, so grateful and happy when one of his Realtor colleagues would e-mail him and thank him for a particular piece of information that they found so helpful.”
John Jordan, editor of Real Estate In-Depth, said, “What has made Real Estate In-Depth a must-read for HGAR members has been the quality of its contributors. John Vrooman for more than 21 years never took a month off and worked very hard in sharing his research and insights on the latest computer, office and personal technology trends. He took his role very seriously and his passing will leave a void that will be hard to fill. He will be missed.”
John’s non-business interest focused on his family, particularly his 13-year-old daughter, Sarah. He also took great pleasure from fishing in his spare time. Private services will be held to celebrate his life with family and friends in Lewiston, NY where he will be laid to rest in the family’s cemetery plot.