Donald Frommeyer, whose leadership of the mortgage broker industry saved the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, died last night due to complications of Covid 19.
Don was an active and proud mortgage loan originator for decades. When the financial crisis hit in 2009, it struck the mortgage brokerage industry exceptionally hard. And that decimation rolled through the national association as well. Two presidents were installed in quick succession, both resigning quickly due to ethical and financial charges. Suddenly, Frommeyer was thrust into the president’s chair. He occupied it for three years – a record for any NAMB president – and succeeded to serve as the organization’s CEO for two more. His commitment to ethical dealing – as an industry and as an individual – was a hallmark of his character, and he used it to help restore the reputation of the brokerage industry.
“It’s hard to overstate how influential Don was in preserving mortgage brokerage as an industry, keeping NAMB afloat as an organization, and being an innovator on behalf of brokers,” said Vincent Valvo, who worked with Frommeyer for many years and developed a close friendship with him. “When you were with Don, you learned how to be a better person just by watching him be one.”
For the past four years, even while working full-time as a loan originator, Don has served as the chairman of the Originator Connect Network, criss-crossing the country to meet with brokers, LOs and vendors, and urging them to support their industry, become more educated to better serve consumers, and to hold the profession to the highest standards.
An Indianapolis resident, Don Frommeyer had an affable approach to life – always bringing a big smile and large laugh, always choosing friendship as a bridge to better relations. He was an advocate of professionalism, a man who committed himself to being an example of honest service.
Don was diagnosed with Covid last week, and was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday, Dec. 9. He was put on a ventilator on Sunday, Dec. 13, but that action was unsuccessful in restoring his ability to breathe. His wife, Barbara, was always at his side as he worked at OCN events across the nation. But she, too, contracted Covid at the same time he did. She remains in quarantine at home recovering, and was unable to be with him when he passed.
Private funeral arrangements are being made by his family. They hope to be able to organize an in-person celebration of his life in late Spring or in the Summer, when health conditions allow. Don Frommeyer would have turned 68 this Friday, Dec. 18.
