WILLIAM "BILL" CROCKER

1930 - 2021

CROCKER, William T. "Bill" Retired U.S. diplomat, classical music lover, avid sailor and enthusiast of life. William Tufts Crocker died peacefully on February 11, 2021 of COVID-related complications at the age of 90. Bill was born in 1930 in Boston to Rev. John Crocker and Mary Hallowell Crocker. He graduated from St. Paul's School in 1948, from Harvard College in 1952 and from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1954. Bill entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 1955. It was during his first posting to Graz, Austria that he met and married his wife Aki Maria. Future postings included Bonn and Kiel (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), and multiple postings in Nagoya and Tokyo (Japan). His entire professional career as a U.S. diplomat was with the United States Information Agency. After retiring to Washington, DC in 1986 he became a docent at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art where he led tours for many years. He especially enjoyed introducing school children to the wonders and beauty of Asian art. He also acted as a hospice volunteer at the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing in Washington for over a decade. Following the death of his wife, Aki, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2001 where he lived at Cadbury Commons until 6 months ago. There he reconnected with old friends and his large, extended family, played chamber music regularly, attended the Boston Symphony weekly, went to virtually every opera performed in the Boston area, and had a rich social and cultural life. He spent summers with his extended family in North Haven, Maine and he made regular trips back to the Washington, DC area where his daughter, Martina resides. Until 2019 Bill and Martina met up 4 times a year in New York City to attend the Metropolitan Opera. Bill was a great lover of all classical music but in particular the Germanic repertoire including Mozart, Wagner, Richard Strauss and Mahler. An avid amateur chamber music player he originally played the violin and later switched to the viola. His CD collection numbered in the thousands and his knowledge of the classical repertoire was encyclopedic. His other great passion was sailing. Already as a child he vacationed with his family in North Haven, Maine and his love of the sea continued throughout his life. On the islands of Penobscot Bay he awoke to his passion for collecting rocks and driftwood. His rock sculptures were inspirational and he was encouraged by his family to exhibit them at a gallery in North Haven, Maine in 2011 under the title, "Found Objects: Images in Stone and Wood." Bill's generosity, kindness, curiosity, interest in people, and his great enthusiasm for life touched many lives all over the world. He will be sorely missed. Bill is survived by his daughter, Martina Crocker of Bethesda Maryland, his sister Mary Strang of Meeker Colorado, 17 beloved nieces and nephews and their extended families including Checker Ives and Cathy Ives Cornell of Massachusetts with whom he spent countless holidays. Cremation has taken place. A Celebration of Life will be held in both North Haven, Maine and Salzburg, Austria at a later date. Donations may be made to the Musicians Foundation (a non-profit aiding musicians in times of need) at https://www.musiciansfoundation.org

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