Jeanne LaCroix Crocker

Jeanne LaCroix Crocker, 89, died peacefully at home on September 24 surrounded by her family.

Jeanne was born in Swampscott, Massachusetts, the third of five children of Morris Felton LaCroix and Esther Humphrey Paine. After graduating from Beaver Country Day School and Smith College in 1945, Jeanne married the love of her life, Bigelow Crocker, Jr. She and Big raised a loving family of five in Lunenburg, MA. She was a pioneering woman who served as a director and trustee of many leadership boards at the local and state level and volunteered for several organizations in the Fitchburg and Lunenburg area including Applewild School, the Fitchburg Art Museum, the Fitchburg Historical Society, Burbank Hospital, The United Parish, Lawrence Academy and the North County Land Trust.

Jeanne's lifelong passion revolved around scholarship and diversity. Her commitment to issues of social justice and improving educational opportunities for all were fueled by her belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to try and succeed. Jeanne was an unending source of faith in humanity and hope for the future. She was a welcoming, gracious, self-effacing person and she affected many lives.

Jay enjoyed many years with her family on the ocean and in the mountains. She was an avid outdoors woman who enjoyed tennis, fly fishing, sailing and skiing. She loved to tend to her gardens and attending Friday afternoon symphony concerts with her dear sisters were a great source of joy. She was a loyal supporter of her schools and cherished the relationships that she sustained with her school and college friends.

Jeanne was predeceased by her husband, Bigelow Crocker, Jr., her brother, Bill LaCroix and her sister, Ruth LaCroix Darling. She is survived by her 5 children, Susanne Richey, of Hamilton, and her husband Charles R. Richey, children Ashley and Dugan MacVaugh; John Todd Crocker, of Concord, and his wife Caroline Crocker, children Lee and John Crocker and Hope Stango; David Bigelow Crocker, of Santa Fe, NM, and his wife Katie Bell, children Jeanne-Arli and Alysia Crocker, Liam Bell; Martha Paine Crocker, of Big Sky, MT, and her husband, Thomas Leonard; and Lucy Crocker Abisalih, of Merrimac, and her husband, Thomas Abisalih, children Claire and William Abisalih. Jeanne is also survived by her two sisters Susanne Phippen and Edith Dabney, their husbands Richard Phippen and Lewis Dabney; and brother-in-law Nelson Darling.

Gifts in her name may be made to the Applewild School, 120 Prospect St., Fitchburg, MA 01420