Elwood Francis Cronk

CRONK MEDFORD, NJ - Elwood Francis Cronk, 89, a member of Mount Holly, New Jersey Friends Meeting, died Dec. 31, 2008. He was born in Ossining, N.Y. to Nathaniel and Frances Cronk, both deceased, as is his sister, Louise Cronk of East Greenwich, R.I. He graduated from Pleasantville High School (N.Y.) in 1939, and continued his education at Packard Business College, where he studied accounting. In December of 1940, he participated in an American Friends work camp in Cooperstown, N.Y. While there, he played on the town' s baseball team. In 1942, he registered as a conscientious objector. He was later assigned to do "work of national importance" at the Petersham, Mass., Civilian Public Service (CPS) camp. Several years later, he went AWOL and started working in a hospital. He was picked up, went to court and was sentenced to one year in prison. During the years following his release, he was active in the peace movement. He held a variety of jobs. In 1955, he accepted an appointment to work with high-school age Quakers for the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. During his 12 years of service, he was also active in many of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. During the summer of 1955, he met Joy Newby, of Des Moines, Iowa. In 1956, they were married during a Quaker ceremony at the Des Moines Friends Church. Two years later their son, Alan Richard Cronk, was born. He now lives in Winston-Salem, N.C., with his wife, Joti Sekhon, and their son, Imran. In 1967, he became Executive Director of the Lower Bucks County Community Centers (LBCC), Inc., located at the William Penn Center in Fallsington, Pa. His primary service to this Bucks County United Way agency was as a community activist. In this capacity he immediately started working with the Puerto Rican community in Bristol borough. His first task was working at the community center on Lincoln Avenue. At the same time, with the assistance of Marguerita Battistine, he started a needs assessment. Out of this work came a bi-lingual preschool program. A bi-lingual woman was employed to stay in daily contact with members of the community and assist them. He administered the Bucks County Bail Bond program. He assisted the Bucks County Mobile Home Owners in organizing themselves to combat the injustices that were present at the time. He was active in the formation of the Bucks County Consumers Organization. This group was assisted in this work by the Bucks Beefs column that appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times twice each week. In 1975, and for the next 15 years, Safer Neighborhoods Are Possible (SNAP) actively worked to stamp out crime and vandalism in neighborhoods in Lower Bucks County. The work of SNAP organizers was ably assisted through many articles of support in the Courier. In 1982, the Bucks County Mediation Services was formed. It continues to be active at the Peace Center in Langhorne, Pa., under the direction of Richard Conrad, a former volunteer. The Emergency Relief Program was initially sponsored by the LBCC. In 1995, he and his wife, Joy, became residents of Woolman Commons at Medford Leas Retirement Community in Medford, N.J. Shortly after his arrival, he was appointed by the courts as a child-custody mediator in the Burlington County Court House. He received training to become a facilitator in the Alternatives To Violence Project. He was involved in this service for over fours years in the Fort Dix Federal Corrections Prison as well as the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.