Thomas Floyd Crocker

Funeral services for Dr. Thomas Floyd Crocker, 72, of Tifton, Georgia will be held on Saturday, April 8, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Thomasville, Georgia. Dr. Jimmy Clanton will be officiating. Internment will follow at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Dr. Crocker died on March 31, 2017 at Houston Methodist West Hospital in Houston, Texas following a sudden illness. Born in Miami, Florida on May 17, 1944, he was the son of Emma Jean Crocker and the late Jack Ivan Crocker and was raised in Thomasville. He was married for fifty years to Jane Elizabeth (Rehberg) Crocker. He is survived by his wife Jane E. Crocker, son and daughter-in-law Joe and Cassie Crocker and daughter and son-in-law Lori and Erik Wielang. He is also survived by his mother Emma Jean Crocker,sister Judith Corbin and husband David Edwards, twin brother Dr. Timothy E. Crocker and wife Dr. Linda Crocker, sister Eileen Hart and husband Dr. Robert Hart, and brother William I. Crocker and wife Ginger. Other surviving family members include sister-in-law Janice E. Sobel and husband Kipp, sister-in-law Joy Kent and husband Larry and brother-in-law, Sonny Batts. Also surviving are grandchildren Jacob Wielang, Jordan Wielang, Austin Crocker, Cole Crocker, and Emma Bailey Crocker. He was also a beloved uncle to numerous nephews and nieces. He graduated from Central High School in 1962. He received his Bachelors of Science with a degree in Horticulture from the University of Georgia, and his Ph.D. in Horticulture specializing in Pomology from Michigan State University. Dr. Crocker's career started as a horticulturist at Auburn University. He then transferred to the University of Georgia as Extension Pecan Specialist. He finished his career as the Pecan Specialist for the State of Georgia and was stationed in Tifton. He was promoted to Full Professor and retired as Professor Emeritus in 2001 from the University of Georgia. He was an internationally known Pecan expert and a longtime member of The Georgia Pecan Growers Association as well as several other states’ Pecan Growers Chapters. He served as President of Southern Region American Society of Horticultural Science and received the President’s Distinguished Service Award, from the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C. Dr. Crocker published numerous articles, books, and handbooks on pecans during his lifetime. He was also a lifetime member of the Exchange Club in both Albany and Tifton. He volunteered his service at the polls for every election possible. He was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity. Memorials may be made in his honor to Bid4Kids with the Tifton Exchange Club, PO Box 1621, Tifton, Ga 31793, Alpha Gamma Rho Eta Chapter, 10101 N Ambassador Drive, Kansas City, Missouri 64153 ( www.alphagammarho.org ) or the University of Georgia Horticulture Department 394 S. Milledge Avenue, Athens, GA 30602 ( gifts@uga.edu ). The family will receive friends from 5:00-7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 7 at Allen and Allen Funeral Home.