JERRY BRUCE CROCKETT's Obituary
Jerry Bruce Crockett, 89, prominent attorney, Miami native and lifetime resident,
devoted to family, community.
Jerry B. Crockett, 89, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, August 4, following a massive stroke. He and his beloved wife of nearly 67 years, Anne O'Quinn Crockett, had lived happily together since 1960 in the “Roads” section of Miami, and raised their five children only a block away from his childhood home.
Born December 3, 1930, Crockett was the 4th child born to Bruce and Annelise Crockett, in the middle of the Great Depression. The Miami known by Crockett, very different from today, was a jungle-like hammock forest that still thrived along the bay, unfenced, just a short walk "down the street." He remembered the bay’s waters as clear as glass, and abundant with marine life. No bridge to Key Biscayne yet existed; he kept a small sailboat “docked” in the dense mangroves. When he and his family ventured out on boating expeditions, they took with them no water, but only empty jugs, preferring the cool, sweet, fresh water that bubbled up from below and floated in quantity on top of the salt water, just north of the mouth of the Miami River.
As a boy, he delivered both The Miami News and The Miami Herald, one of his routes being “Millionaire’s Row” along Brickell Avenue.
He vividly remembered exploring the grounds of James Deering’s Vizcaya Estate in the early 1940s, and riding his bicycle to Venetian Pool down Coral Way, still a dirt road at the time.
Crockett attended Coral Way Elementary, Shenandoah Junior High and upon graduating from Miami Senior High (Class of ‘48), he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he participated in the ROTC Program, performed competitively in handball and track and field athletics (his focus, pole vaulting), and graduated with honors. He belonged to the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
He planned on studying law, with the aid of the G.I. Bill, once he had completed his commitment to military service. It was during his years in the Army, a young lieutenant stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., that he met the woman he would forever consider his “soul mate,” Anne Howe O’Quinn, of Lillington, N.C. They were married on Aug. 15, 1953, and remained deeply in love throughout their years of marriage. Their anniversary this year would have been their 67th.
As per plan, he undertook his legal studies at the University of Florida, graduating as valedictorian of the Class of 1955.
In 1956, Crockett was offered a position with the firm later to become prominently known as Steel, Hector & Davis. He began as the firm’s ninth lawyer, beginning his career as a trial attorney representing such clients as Pan Am, National Airlines, and the Florida East Coast Railroad.
He and his wife were active members of Central Baptist Church, in downtown Miami, for decades. He was a popular Sunday school teacher for many years, and both enjoyed singing in the church choir.
He actively volunteered in service of the Miami YMCA, and was often called upon for consultation in matters legal and otherwise. He was a highly competitive handball player for many years (having been a handball champion at the University of Florida), and also greatly enjoyed his time on the golf course as a member of La Gorce Country Club in Miami Beach.
With the passage of time Crockett developed a specialty in banking law at Steel Hector, becoming a trusted adviser to the new and growing Southeast Bank, serving as a member of its Board in 1967, as it evolved from the First National Bank of Miami.
He would devote an entire working lifetime--nearly 40 years-- to taking a leadership role in the firm, and establishing an impeccable professional reputation as an attorney specializing in the rapidly changing field of banking law. Crockett wrote the original contract used by MasterCard. He gave his time to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, and served as its chair. He was a much sought-after lecturer among the nation’s leading banking attorneys, for the prestigious American Law Institute.
Former managing partner at Steel, Hector and Davis, Joseph P. Klock, Jr., recently described his contribution to the firm as follows:
“Jerry was the dean of banking lawyers in Florida and one of the brightest people that God ever created.”
Jerry is survived by his wife of 67 years, Anne; his children Jeffrey, Gregory, Paul, Whitney and Lisa. Daughters-in law Denise Crockett and Samantha Duckworth; six grandchildren; and nephews Jerry Buhr and Pat McMakin.
But when all is said and done, he was the greatest husband and father. In the words of a former colleague, “We will not see his like again.”
What’s your fondest memory of JERRY?
What’s a lesson you learned from JERRY?
Share a story where JERRY's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with JERRY you’ll never forget.
How did JERRY make you smile?
