Yvonne Crocker

August 21 1925 - October 15 2022

Auburn, NH - Yvonne Crocker, 97, was born on August 21, 1925, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She was the elder daughter of John Peter Dijkhorst and Geertruida Dijkhorst- Kamman. In 1927 her sister Maja was born, and they had a happy but strict childhood. Yvonne went to elementary and a 5-year high school in Amsterdam and graduated in 1942. She accepted a job with the Royal Dutch Railroads at Central Station in Amsterdam. When World War II ended in 1945, she transferred to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines stationed at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. She worked in most European capitals helping set up reservation systems as well as half a year in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. Her last transfer was in 1961 from Toronto to Boston. She met the love of her life, Charles Wilcox Crocker, an instructional engineer, and married him. IN 1965 they bought a house in Auburn, NH. After two years commuting to Boston, she left KLM in 1967. They lived happily in Auburn. Yvonne attended Notre Dame College and in 1972 graduated, magna cum laude, with a BA degree in Humanities, emphasis in modern languages, and Secondary Education. She was certified to teach German, Spanish, and French. She accepted a one-year assignment at UNH in a government sponsored German program and in 1973 was hired by the Concord School District as a teacher in foreign languages. She taught mainly German, 5 levels, and some Spanish. Her interests shifted to the teaching of the gifted and talented and in 1979 she graduated with a Master's in Planning, Developing and Implementing Programs for the Gifted and Talented, followed by a second Master's in 1986 for the teaching of the Advanced Gifted and Talented Programs. In 1984 she also completed the course work and residency at Vanderbilt University in the PhD program. In 1973 Yvonne started teaching evening classes in German and Spanish at the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences. In 1974 she received the Urkunde from the Bundes Republik Deutschland for outstanding achievement in the study of German Language and literature. In 1979 she attended a semester at the University of Salzburg, Austria. Most summers she attended different colleges to keep her teacher's certification up. In 1981 she established an Exchange Program with a gymnasium in Wegberg, Germany. Students stayed one month with a German family, while German students were staying one month with an American family. That program was very successful and is still going strong. In 1984 the then Governor John Sununu was interested in setting up a pilot program for gifted and talented students in public schools. Yvonne was selected as one of the 30 teachers in the State to attend a leadership seminar for 2 weeks discussing with business leaders what their needs in the workforce were. This was followed up the next year with a week-long seminar to discuss the setup, development, and training for such a program. Unfortunately, funds did not become available to set up a program for the gifted and talented. However, the participants set up an organization which would keep the interest going. In 1990, Yvonne was awarded the NH Teacher of the Year in modern languages. She retired in 1990. Yvonne was a member of many educational organizations. Besides lifetime memberships in NEA, NHNEA and Concord NEA, and now a member of the NH Retired Equators Association, she was a long-time member and past member at large of MENSA, a member and past State President of Delta Kappa Gamma, an international honor society for Women Educators. She was selected their "2016 Woman of Achievement" Award. She was a 50 year plus member of Concord Grange #322 and held most positions in that organization. Her further interests were in knitting, quilting, embroidery, reading, gardening and being in nature. Yvonne was predeceased by her husband, her daughter Linda Jeanne Terrio, her sister Maja Geertruida Storm-Dijkhorst. She is survived by her beloved granddaughter Jennifer Jeanne Parisi, her husband Jim Parisi, great-granddaughters Emily and Ashley and great great-granddaughter, Eliana, all of Rutland, MA, step daughter Edith Louise Crocker of San Antonio, TX, nephew Arthur Storm and his wife Diny, Ronald Storm and Edward Storm, all of Almere, the Netherlands, step-grandson Jeffrey Cutting and his wife Sue and two children of Waukegan, IL, several cousin and many, many great friends.