State Rep., Unionville Museum members honor Jack Crockett

A room full of devoted friends gathered at the Farmington Library Friday to honor the life of Jack Crockett as he turned 90.

State Rep. Demetrios Giannaros presented the U.S. diplomat and champion of local history with a citation from state officials, thanking him for his work.

"We're here to honor him and thank him for his long service to our nation in the U.S. Service Department and to the local community here," Giannaros began. "There are so many unsung heroes out there and Jack is one of them."

Giannaros, with Crockett's help, recounted the 90-year-old's lengthy list of accomplishments: overseeing meetings with foreign leaders, establishing diplomatic connections, writing speeches for three U.S. presidents, Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Edward R. Murrow and diplomatic work to end the Yom Kippur War.

After 37 years in the U.S. State Department and a stint as a cub reporter for the Hartford Times, Crockett went on to found the Norman Mailer Society and the Unionville Museum. Giannaros called Crockett "a renaissance man."

Crockett helped Giannaros explain the extensive collection of priceless historical antiques he has donated to various institutions. There were 398 pieces from the Ming dynasty contributed to the collection at Yale and 99 Roman pieces from second and third century Tunisia.

Priceless, too, were Crockett's stories punctuating Giannaros' speech. As he described each donation, Crockett recounted its origin.

The Tunisian collection included egg-like clay balls that were used as slingshots, Crockett explained, with a groove around the middle to hold them in place.

"The people at Yale didn't know what they were and I said well, 'I'll just tell you what the people in Tunisia said they were,'" Crockett said.

There were 60 American Indian deeds, too, that record the transfer of land from Tunxis Indians to Farmington's founding families. These Crockett donated to the Connecticut Historical Society.

"These are the earliest documents of our town," Crockett explained.

There were also two chairs from the Hill-Stead that were once owned by Ambassador Riddle, sold to Crockett's father when the museum was being auctioned off to pay for Avon Old Farms, Crockett said. He later returned them to the museum, where they continue to help tell the story of Farmington.

Giannaros continued through the list, telling how the Prague Secret Police had slashed the pages out of the beginnings of Crockett's memoirs, how he passed on the earliest silver made in Farmington to the Stanley Whitman House, and then he stopped.

"I'm not going to talk about you jumping into a pool naked," Giannaros told Crockett.

Crockett had the room in stitches as he smiled back and replied, "the things you do for your country!"

Robert Pollack, on behalf of Congressman Christopher Murphy, presented a citation and Probate Judge Evelyn Daly spoke, too.

"I don't know anyone more proud of our history," Daly said. "I just wanted to thank Jack Crockett for being our historian, our diplomat, our treasured citizen and personally, someone I absolutely adore."

But the most sincere thanks came from the people of the Unionville Museum as they together read a proclamation of gratitude for leading them in treasuring the village's unique history.

"He has been a guiding light in keeping Unionville's history alive," said Cliff Alderman, the current museum president.

The reception concluded with a round of "Happy Birthday" to celebrate Crockett's past 90 years and his future.