Donald G. Tronstein; Rodeo Drive Developer

Donald G. Tronstein, Rodeo Drive developer and booster who in 1978 was one of the original founders of the Rodeo Drive Committee, has died. He was 60.

Tronstein died Saturday night of a heart attack.

After a decade as real estate broker and vice president in charge of the Beverly Hills office of Coldwell Banker & Co., Tronstein started his own commercial real estate company in 1972. He owned several pieces of property on the internationally known street where the rich and famous shop for designer brands of apparel and jewelry. Among them were the sites of Giorgio Armani and Polo/Ralph Lauren.

Tronstein was also a major booster for the Beverly Hills shoppers’ paradise, earning the unofficial nickname as the “mayor of Rodeo Drive.” In addition to helping create the promotional Rodeo Drive Committee, Tronstein was one of its most prominent spokesmen.

The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce honored Tronstein’s civic endeavors in 1991 by naming him Citizen of the Year. Tronstein served on Beverly Hills’ Urban Design Committee and on the board of the Greater Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau. He was a past president of the Beverly Hills Rotary Club and was also active on the Mayor’s Economic Advisory Committee.

A dedicated alumnus of UC Berkeley, Tronstein served as a director of the school’s alumni association and as Southern California co-chairman of the university system’s capital campaign in the late 1980s. From 1991 until his death, he was on the board of visitors of UCLA’s John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management.

Tronstein was a major supporter of the Los Angeles County Music Center, serving on its Fraternity of Friends and Board of Overseers. He was a member of the president’s circle of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and a trustee of St. Johns Hospital Foundation.

Survivors include his wife, Arletta; his son, Mark, and daughter, Jennifer; two stepchildren, Kevin Gentile and Kim Gassner; his sister, Gloria, and a brother, Jerry Taylor.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. today at the Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church.

The family has requested that any contributions in his honor be made to the Donald G. Tronstein Memorial Fund of the Fraternity of Friends of the Los Angeles County Music Center.