'Simple wants' allow alumnus to donate thousands to UA

Tanith L. Balaban Arizona Daily Wildcat Lionel "Lee" Rombach, who works in the Student Union Gallery, funded the Rombach Institute on Crime, Delinquency and Corrections at the UA.

"From day one I knew I planned to do social work. Some people-helping activity," Rombach said.

During the past 25 years, those sentiments have led Rombach to donate almost $500,000 to the University of Arizona. Most recently, he added a total endowment of more than $700,000 to establish the Rombach Institute on Crime, Delinquency and Corrections.

The Religious Studies Department, College of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and UA Art Museum all have been recipients of Rombach's gifts, endowments or scholarships.

In the Religious Studies Department, Rombach's donation established academic scholarships.

Another of his student-oriented scholarships is the Interfaith, Interdisciplinary Honorary Scholarship. He established the scholarship by giving the UA a treasury bond that matures in 2025 and should be worth more than $100,000.

"I'm not a millionaire. I just have simple wants and save like crazy," Rombach said.

In his 83 years, Rombach has owned four cars - maintaining them by turning them into hobbies. Several years ago he donated one of the cars to UA engineering students to convert into an electric car.

Rombach began his career as a social worker with the American Red Cross at the end of World War II, but in 1945 moved into corrections work when then-Superior Court Judge Evo DeConcini asked him to be a juvenile probation officer.

"I took the job, was there for seven years and I loved it," Rombach said.

After his first job in corrections, Rombach never looked back. He then spent four years as a truant officer for Tucson Unified School District.

In 1958 he got another call from Superior Court asking him to handle adult probation cases. He went back to the court and stayed there until his retirement in 1983, at age 70.

"In all those years, I only took two vacations. I just never felt the need," Rombach said.

Rombach even connected his favorite hobby, woodworking, to his career.

While still working with juveniles, he obtained a teaching certificate so he could teach the skill to students he was monitoring.

Rombach's wood-crafting skills were showcased in a display at the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, 6300 N. Swan Road, where he still has works on permanent display.

Rombach said that artist/owner Ted DeGrazia once asked him to give up corrections and pursue the woodworking full time. However, Rombach said he was too committed to his work to leave it.

He said his only regret in life is never having married because he would have liked having children.

Today, Rombach still spends his days at the university, volunteering in the Memorial Student Union Gallery.