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John Howe Crocker
John Howe Crocker of Southampton died at Stony Brook University Hospital on Thursday, August 9. He was 77.
Born in New York City on November 20, 1934, he was the son of Frank Longfellow Crocker and Rosemary Howe Crocker. He graduated from St. Paul’s School in 1952 and Williams College in 1956 with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Upon graduation from Williams, Mr. Crocker joined the U.S. Army and served in Korea for two years. After returning from Korea, he lived and worked in New York City and Locust Valley. Throughout his childhood, Mr. Crocker spent his summers in Southampton, and in 1982, he and his wife, Jackie, became year-round residents.
Mr. Crocker’s entrepreneurial spirit led to a variety of business endeavors. In the 1960s, he started the Crocker Watch Company in partnership with his sister-in-law, Jean Crocker. In the early 1970s, he formed a new partnership with lifelong friend and Southampton resident Anthony (Tony) Barclay. Barclay-Crocker (NY) originated as a classical music recording company at a time that predated cassettes, CDs, and digital music. The company sold music worldwide on the reel-to-reel format. Barclay-Crocker (Southampton) was a retail soaps and toiletries shop on Jobs Lane in the 1990s. Before retiring in 2003, Mr. Crocker was a real estate sales associate at Southampton’s Agawam Realty.
Mr. Crocker found great meaning in his work with various civic and social organizations in Southampton. He served on the board of directors of the Rogers Memorial Library for many years, and was its president in the early 1990s. He worked tirelessly at raising funds for the new library by orchestrating the show houses in collaboration with the late Madelle Semergian. In the following decade, he served on the board of directors of the Southampton Historical Museum. A lifelong member of the Meadow Club, he served on its board of directors in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Additionally, he gave his efforts to improving the playground and war memorial at Agawam Park in 1993.
Mr. Crocker had an inquisitive mind and an insatiable appetite for books on almost any subject. He was an avid and accomplished racquets player as well as a creative writer. Most importantly, he was known among his friends and acquaintances as a man who selflessly reached out to others when he found them in need of support, appreciation, or inspiration.
Mr. Crocker is survived by his wife of 38 years, Jacquelyn; his son Avery of Southampton; and his daughter, Amanda and her husband Adam Klempa of Paris.
The family received friends on Sunday, August 12, at the O’Connell Funeral Home in Southampton. A private burial followed on August 13 at Southampton Cemetery. A memorial service will be held at St. Andrew’s Dune Church in late September. Memorial donations may be made to either the Southampton Hospital Regional Dialysis Center in Hampton Bays, www.southamptonhospital.org, or the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton, 91 Coopers Farm Road, Southampton, NY 11968.
on Aug 13, 2012