Thomas D. Crocker ’59 died on June 07, 2026, in Centennial, Wyoming.
(The following was provided by the Montgomery-Stryker Funeral Home on June 07, 2026:)
Thomas D. Crocker ’59
Thomas “Tom” Crocker passed away at his home at the age of 89 on June 7, 2026, following a brief illness. His long and remarkable life was defined by integrity, intellectual curiosity, generosity, and a deep commitment to family, friends, and the natural world.
Born on July 22nd, 1936, in Bangor, Maine to Floyd Crocker and Gloria Thomas, Tom grew up in Bucksport, Maine, where his father was the timberlands manager for the St. Regis Paper Mill. He worked in the woods camps as a teen where he learned to be a timber cruiser.
Tom graduated with honors in economics from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, followed by a stint in the U.S. Air Force, where he was stationed in Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in the emerging field of environmental and resource economics at the University of Missouri, where he married fellow graduate student Sylvia Fleming. Following appointments at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and the University of California campuses at Berkeley and Riverside, Tom accepted a teaching and research professorship at the University of Wyoming and moved to Laramie with his young family in 1976.
Over the next several decades, Tom helped build the University of Wyoming into an internationally recognized center for environmental and natural resource economics. A pioneering scholar who published hundreds of papers in scholarly journals, he helped lay the intellectual foundation for emissions trading programs, commonly known as cap-and-trade, an idea that would later influence environmental policy around the world. He also served as chair of the Department of Economics, founded the Ruckelshaus Institute at the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, and mentored generations of students and colleagues. Though respected internationally for his scholarship, Tom was equally admired for his kindness, generosity, and willingness to help others succeed. As his friend and colleague Jo Barbier put it, “He was a big tree in the forest with deep roots and a large canopy that inspired so many.”
Tom loved the wide-open skies of Wyoming and the forests of Maine, where he spent summers at his beloved cottage. He approached life with curiosity, enthusiasm, and an appreciation for family and friendships. In the fall of 1989, he married fellow professor Judith Powell, with whom he built a rich and fulfilling life over the next four decades. He enjoyed traveling the world with Judy; hiking and skiing; working and maintaining the woods around his properties; paddling around in a canoe and kayak; cheering on the Boston Red Sox and men’s and women’s UW basketball teams; listening to classical, outlaw country, and folk music; reading the daily newspaper, non-fiction, The Economist, and The New York Times; eating peanuts, Jordan almonds, ice cream, and drinking beer; and gathering with friends and family to enjoy home-cooked meals and some lively conversation.
Tom was predeceased by his parents and brother, Charles L. Crocker, and his former wife Sylvia Fleming Crocker. He is survived by Judy Powell, his wife of thirty-seven years; three daughters: Sarah Crocker Garcia, Trena Crocker Larson, and Anne Marie Huntington; and three grandchildren: Thomas Garcia, Samuel Huntington, and Sophie Huntington. He is also survived by his many cherished friends and colleagues around the world.