Kay Crocker Passes Away Unexpectedly on October 3

Boaters and fishermen in North and South Carolina lost a friend and icon October 3, when Newland Kay Crocker passed away.

Crocker, who lived in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., was born in Selma, N.C. in 1939.  He was the owner and driving force behind the Crocker Marine Group, which includes Nautica Marine in Georgetown, Crocker’s Marine in Wrightsville Beach, N.C. and Morehead Marine in Morehead City, N.C.

As a teenager working during the summer, Crocker’s employer brought him and other workers to Wrightsville Beach for a fishing trip with Capt. Eddy Haneman and Crocker’s love affair with Wrightsville Beach began.  Crocker attended Wake Forest University and upon graduation accepted a job as a teacher and girl’s basketball coach at Topsail High School in nearby Hampstead to move to the area.  He soon moved to New Hanover High School in Wilmington and began working as a charter mate on weekends and during the summer.  In only a matter of a few years he had secured his own boat and started his own charter business.

A few years later he was offered a position as the First Mate on the Krispy Kreme Corporation yacht and jumped at the chance to follow his heart to waters all along the East Coast.  While working on the yacht, Crocker met the love of his life and decided to settle in Wrightsville Beach.  Emma Sue Hawes, from nearby Rose Hill, was a teacher at Wrightsville Elementary school and accepted Crocker’s proposal.

While he was through traveling on yachts, Crocker still had a strong dose of salt water in his blood.  He wanted to stay connected to boating and in the late 1960s opened Wrightsville Yacht Brokerage.  In the fall of 1969, he added Grady-White Boats to his lineup and things began to roll.  Several years later, after much urging from Eddie Smith at Grady-White, Crocker changed the name of the business to Crocker’s Marine and put the emphasis on new smaller boats rather than used larger ones.

Crocker’s Marine moved to its current location in 1973 and added Boston Whaler Boats for many years.  Currently the boat lines are Grady-White and Parker.  A larger rigging and storage facility was added off-site in later years to allow customers to store their boats and leave them for servicing.

In December of 1985, Crocker began his expansion by leasing the first of the buildings that is now Morehead Marine in Morehead City.  This expansion went so well that in 1996 he purchased Nautica Marine in Georgetown, S.C.

Early on, Crocker realized boating and fishing was about family and fun and began organizing annual owner’s tournament and trips.  Many of his satisfied customers say the feeling of family and service after the sale is what keeps them coming back to the Crocker dealerships.  2008 marked the 29th annual owner’s tournament for Crocker’s Marine.  It was also the 37th year for the annual Ocracoke trip that was begun by fellow dealer Tom Boyette at Ol’ Boy Will Boat Sales in Clinton.  An annual combination fishing school and customer appreciation day each February completes the extra activities undertaken by the dealerships in the Crocker Marine Group.

Crocker was also instrumental in starting the Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show.  This show has grown from just a few dealers in the mid 1990s to filling the new enlarged facility that will host its first boat show in January 2009.

Crocker was also a supporter of conservation and the fisheries.  He was a lifetime member of CCA and one of the organizing forces behind the Cape Fear (Wilmington) Chapter.  He was also one of the founders and a member of the board of directors of the Wrightsville Beach King Mackerel Tournament for many years.

Most of all, Crocker also was a strong believer in family.  Mrs. Emma Sue preceded him in death by a couple of months, but the Crocker legacy lives on strong through his sons Newland and Will and their families.  Newland works in sales at Crocker Marine in Wrightsville Beach and Dr. Will Crocker lives in Chapel Hill.

The memorial service was held October 6 and concluded with the sprinkling of ashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Masonboro Inlet.  It was a place near and dear to Crocker and a place he had called home since he was first introduced to it as a teenager.

Fishermen and boaters across the Carolinas lost a good friend that Friday morning, but we shouldn’t mourn for Kay Crocker, just appreciate the time we had him around.  Surely enough he is hooked up in the hereafter and smiling that broad smile and laughing that deep laugh those fortunate enough to call him a friend remember so well.  Godspeed Kay.