Burleigh S. Crockett Obituary (1923 - 2013)

WATERVILLE, MAINE - Early Sunday morning, October 27, 2013, Burleigh S. Crockett left us unexpectedly to join Corine who passed to the next life on September 12, 2013. Burleigh was born on September 25, 1923 in Sumner, Maine, the only son of Horace B. and Marion Stetson Crockett. Burleigh was a graduate of Buckfield High School, class of 1941, and continued his education at the University of Maine, Orono, where he was a member of Alpha Zeta, an Honorary Agricultural Society established in 1906, and Phi Eta Kappa. He earned his degree in Animal Husbandry and Dairy Nutrition in 1945. For a year after graduation, he was employed on the Harold Shaw Farm in Sanford, Maine as a herdsman. He returned to the University of Maine in 1946 to earn his Master’s Degree in Animal Husbandry in 1948. Following graduation he was employed at the Titcomb Hill Farm in Farmington, Maine. On December 1, 1950, Burleigh married Esther (Ellsworth) Titcomb. In 1951, they purchased the Breton Farm in North Fairfield, Maine where they began farming with a herd of 20 cows. In 1959 they built a new barn for their growing herd of 60 cows. Esther died on January 23, 1981. On April 20, 1985, Burleigh married Corine (Nickerson) Sinclair in Fairfield Center, Maine. He had known Corine for many years. Their happy union lasted 28 years. Two lonely people had found love again. They retired in 1991 and built a home on the Ridge Road in Waterville, Maine. Besides traveling throughout the United States, they wintered at their home in Mount Dora, Florida for 15 years, where Burleigh was an outstanding shuffleboard player. Burleigh was without peer as a farmer. Almost every organization of which he was a member was connected to farming and won him many awards and much recognition. At various times, he was a director of the Federal Land Bank and Production Credit Association, a FHA County Committeeman, a member of the New England Green Pastures Committee (which presented him with the Governor’s Cup in 1965), past president of the Somerset County Extension Association, a member of the Eastern Sire Committee, the Masons, Somerset Soil Conservation Association (which named him Outstanding Farmer in 1957), Somerset Farm Bureau, and Agri-Mark. In addition, Burleigh was one of the founders of Maine Farm Days, hosting it at his farm in North Fairfield in 1971. Burleigh worked hard and had little time for hobbies, but he loved downhill skiing and skied well into his 70s. He also enjoyed fishing and card games (especially pinochle). His greatest passion though was for tractor pulling. He was an avid puller for 29 years. The Maine Farm Tractor Association chose him as Puller of the Year in 1999. In August 2001, the Skowhegan State Fair awarded Burleigh the first ever Sportsmanship Award. His greatest satisfaction was winning against the Canadian pullers. Besides being an outstanding farmer, Burleigh was a warm, intelligent, loving, and generous man who will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Family was of the utmost importance to him. Besides his parents and his wives, he was predeceased by his only sibling Ruth Crockett Webster, and stepson Raymond Titcomb. Burleigh is survived, loved, and missed by his four step-children: Linda (Donald) Maxwell of Waldo, Maine and their family, Mishelle Lawrence and Mike Rioux; Milton (Charlotte) Sinclair of New Sharon, Maine and their family, Joshua Sinclair, Bjarni Thomas, Mary Sinclair, Rodley Crockett Sinclair, and Benjamin Sinclair; Enola (Jim) Couture of Waterville, Maine and their family, Jessica LaRochelle, Sara Nadeau, and James Couture; and Rodley T. (Paula) Sinclair of Haverhill, Mass. Burleigh is also survived by Raymond’s children: Peggy (John) Palazzo of Middletown, N.Y., Susan (Marty) Letts of Arbor Springs, Michigan, and Debby Mallett of Farmington, Maine; the eight dearly loved children of his sister, Ruth: Betty Harris, Jeanette Adams, Margaret, Norma, and Marie Webster, and Maynard, Robert, and Stanley Webster; 13 great-grandchildren, and a special friend, Dot Titcomb. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Burleigh’s name to the Fairfield Center United Methodist Church, in care of Marilyn Tozier, 62 Ohio Hill Road, Fairfield, Maine 04937; Franklin County 4-H Working Steer Club, in care of Melinda Robinson, 12 Larrabee Lane, Litchfield, Maine 04350; or Franklin County 4-H Dairy Club, in care of Gaynelle Yeaton, 262 Whittier Road, Farmington, 04938. Visiting hours will be from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, October 31, at Lawry Brothers Funeral Home, 107 Main Street in Fairfield, Maine. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, November 1, at Fairfield Center United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Francis Merritt officiating. A gathering of family and friends will be held downstairs in the church immediately following the service. Burial will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 2, at Black Mountain Cemetery, in Sumner, Maine. Those who wish are welcome to bring a lunch and join the family at the Black Mountain Picnic Area after the committal.