Robert Chase Crockett

Robert Chase “Bob” Crockett of Winchester died on May 12, 2020 at Lahey Medical Center in Burlington from complications of stroke. He was 83 years old.

Bob was born in West Medford, graduated from Winchester High School in 1954, and received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University in 1958. Later, he earned a MS in Engineering Management from Northeastern University. During his career, Bob was active in engineering societies, served a term as president of IEEE, and worked internationally in The Hague and Ireland. He retired from Polaroid Corporation in 1995.

While studying at Tufts, Bob met another student, Mary Ann Stauffer, from Pennsylvania. He served four years in ROTC at Tufts then married Mary Ann before serving two years of active duty in the Navy. They would have celebrated their 62nd anniversary in June.

Throughout his life with Mary Ann, he loved hiking, camping, fishing, and blueberry picking. They built a summer cottage in Maine where they spent summers boating and exploring the peninsulas and islands of Casco Bay. They have two daughters: Amy and her husband, Maurice Walsh, live in New South Wales, Australia, and Jennifer and her husband, Michael Schunemann, live in Winter Haven, Florida.

As a Freemason, Bob was twice Master of King Cyrus Lodge in Stoneham and once Master of William Parkman Lodge of Winchester. He served as District Deputy Grand Master for the Malden Seventh District in 1992/93 and was a key figure in the Masonic hospital equipment loan program named SMD-HELP Foundation, Inc. Bob received the Henry Price Medal in 2018.

Living in Winchester gave Bob many opportunities to contribute to his community. He was a Town Meeting member and worked as Election Warden of Precinct 6 for over a decade. He was president of the Winchester Scholarship Foundation and served on his Tufts Class of ’58 Reunion Committee. He volunteered on the Building Committees of both the Winchester Unitarian Society and the Jenks Senior Center. He supported Mary Ann’s involvement in the EnKa Society by tirelessly setting up games at the annual EnKa street fair and by modeling clothes from the EnKa Exchange for the Jenks’ Annual Fashion Show.

In retirement, Bob and Mary Ann took advantage of their good health and travelled the world. They toured Australia four times, Europe, New Zealand, Mongolia, China, the Baltic countries, and Canada. They also saw much of the United States driving their recreational vehicle affectionately known as “Yukon King”.