Elton Eugene Crocker

E.E. Crocker (1925 - 2020) Elton Eugene Crocker, 94, of Grand Cane, LA, died Friday, July 3, 2020. The family will receive visitors Wednesday, July 8, 2020, from 12p.m. - 2p.m. at Grand Cane Baptist Church. The service will follow at 2p.m. with Bro. Mike Scott officiating. Interment at the Grand Cane Cemetery. Arrangements by Rose-Neath Funeral Home. E.E. was born October 12, 1925, in rural Sabine County, TX, to Johnnie Willis Crocker, Sr., and Sophronia Clark Crocker Woods. He was reared by his mother and stepfather, Raymond Woods, with his six siblings. At the age of 17, after graduating from Newton High School, E.E. enlisted in the United States Navy, serving four years. He then enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, from which he retired after a 22-year career, earning the rank of Gunnery Sergeant. E.E. lived the Marine Corps core values each day of his life: Honor, Courage, and Commitment. E.E. married Patricia Ann Platt on July 2, 1954, at Bremerton Naval Yard, WA. Gunny Crocker may have been the one in the service but Pat served, too: rearing their children on his deployments and keeping their homes in Twenty-Nine Palms and Vista, CA, Sioux Falls, SD, and, eventually in their retirement from the military, Grand Cane, LA. Never one to sit idle, E.E. began a more than 40-year career in insurance after his retirement from the Marine Corps. He was a founding member of the Grand Cane Water System and the Grand Cane Development Association; he also served as Mayor of the Village of Grand Cane. He enjoyed farming, working his cattle, and tending his summertime garden. Reserved, thoughtful, and quiet, E.E. was an honest, loving man who took great delight in his family, especially the babies he would rock endlessly singing "be-o by-o" to the tune of Rock of Ages. E.E. was preceded in death by his parents and four of his siblings. He is survived by his wife of 66 years: Pat; his children: David Crocker (Lyn), Kenneth Crocker (Suzy), and Kathleen Crocker Hertlein (Rob); his grandchildren: Andy, Shane, Katie, Stacie, Claire, Rhys, Logan, Taylor, Chase and Noah; a number of great-grandchildren; three sisters; and many nieces and nephews. The family wishes to extend special thanks to Cheryl, Marilyn, NeNe, and Valerie for the incredible comfort and care they provided to E.E. and his entire family.