Rosa F. Crocker

Rosa Tucker Fletcher Crocker, 96, an arts education advocate and longtime resident of Harford County, Maryland, died peacefully September 20, 2017 at Fairhaven, a retirement community.

Rosa F. Crocker was born in Lexington, Va., to Forest Fletcher and Laura Powell Tucker Fletcher. Her father, an Olympic athlete, was an athletic director and track coach at Washington & Lee University, and her mother was a founder of a rural Appalachian children’s clinic. In 1945, Rosa Fletcher Crocker married Michael Pue Crocker. Her husband preceded her in death, but she is survived by their three children, Forest Fletcher Crocker, Berthenia Stansbury Crocker, and Rosa Tucker Crocker; two sons-in-law; seven grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.

Mrs. Crocker was a founder of the School Concerts Committee of Harford County, an innovative nonprofit that sponsored performing and teaching artists in Harford County’s public, private and parochial schools for over 35 years. The all-volunteer group introduced thousands of students to international dance, theater and music, with artists often hosted at the Crockers’ Bel Air home, Woodview. In 1983, Harford County’s school music supervisor remarked that without Mrs. Crocker’s efforts there would have been “such a cultural void for our children that (it) could not be filled.”

Mrs. Crocker graduated from Lexington High School, Va.; Abbott Academy, Andover, Mass.; and Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., as a history major.

During World War II, she was a communications clerk for the Air Force Air Transport and served with the American Red Cross as a recreation worker assisting wounded soldiers. She recalled appearing in a production for servicemen with comedian Red Skelton as a highlight of this period.

Her time volunteering at Camp Roberts in California received national attention in 2011, when a letter addressed to R.T. Fletcher, her maiden name, was delivered 67 years after it was penned by her brother. The letter was postmarked in 1944, when Mrs. Crocker was coordinating entertainment for World War II servicemen recovering at the camp’s hospital. When national media picked up the story of the unpunctual letter, Mrs. Crocker had ample evidence that she was the intended recipient, because as a profuse, lifelong correspondent she never discarded a letter.


Along with her devotion to arts education, Mrs. Crocker taught piano and was a founder and active member of the Harford Choral Society. She volunteered with the interdenominational group FISH (Friends in Serving Humanity) a group aiding families in need. She supported the Susquehannock Environmental Center, belonged to the League of Women Voters and served with the Women of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Emmorton. She was named a Harford County Living Treasure.

She made Woodview, the Crocker home, a welcoming hostel to scores of friends, family and international visitors.

Mrs. Crocker loved swimming, horseback riding, and travel. She corresponded with friends and family worldwide, and never failed to cite a grammatical error. As her grandchildren will attest, her often ironical admonitions were always gentle.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites contributions to a charity of choice honoring any of Mrs. Crocker’s many interests.