Early Life
Strom was born December 15, 1927 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania to Max and Bessie Strom. Earl's father, Max, was a foreman at a bakery, and Earl grew up in the household as the youngest of seven children comprising five boys and two girls. As a child, he became interested in athletics and competing in sports, and this interest lasted throughout his childhood and into high school. At Pottstown High School, Strom played football, baseball, and basketball. After finishing high school in 1945, he joined the United States Coast Guard towards the end of World War II. Returning from service, Strom attended Pierce Junior College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he graduated in 1951. Following school, the young Strom continued participating in sports and played for a local semi-professional basketball team in his early 20s. During a basketball game, he had an argument with a referee and the referee said "Look, you're not much of a player, and you've got a pretty good mouth on you, so why don't you think about taking up refereeing?" Following the advice of the referee, Strom decided to get into officiating. He officiated high school games for nine years as well as college games in the East Coast Athletic Conference for three years.
In 1952, he married Yvonne Trollinger, and the couple went on to have five children. Outside of officiating, Strom worked at General Electric in customer relations starting in 1956 and continued in this role through his first stint in the NBA. He felt this "day job" provided security to his family since officiating in the NBA did not at the time.
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