Earl David Crockett Obituary

Earl David Crockett

1936 ~ 2025

Palo Alto, CA-Earl David Crockett died January 28, 2025 at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto. CA. He was born May 18, 1936 in Boulder, CO, the son of Earl and Della (Comish) Crockett. David was married to Ann Rae Hollenbeck in 1967 and they made their home in Los Altos Hills for nearly 50 years. David graduated from Brigham Young University in 1962, from Stanford with a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1964, and from the University of Illinois with a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1967. His areas of interest included data communications, computer architecture, computer engineering education, and work and home environments. He was a founding partner of Aspen Ventures, a venture capital firm specializing in seed and early stage funding for technology start-ups. He served as Vice President for 3i Ventures, President and CEO of Pyramid Technology, and President and CEO of Dataquest. He held management and operational positions with Hewlett Packard and IBM and was a principal in two start-ups that were successfully acquired. He served on 20 private and 10 public boards of director including Herman Miller, Inc., A.C. Nielson, Cornerstone Imaging, Inc., SRA International, Inc., Businessland, Inc., Metatec Corporation, Compuserve Corporation, Focus, Inc., SatMetrix, Inc., and SmartDB Inc. Professional boards have included National Science Foundation Emerging Technology Transfer, Executive Board of the American Electronics Association, Accreditation Board for Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois, and the Editorial Board for Reference Data for Engineers: Radio, Electronics, Computer, and Communications. Distinguished Alumni Award from Brigham Young University and the Electrical Engineering Department Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. He was active in Los Altos Garden Club, enjoyed traveling, opera, and reading. He and his wife were active collectors of wooden spinning tops, Japanese Kokeshi Dolls, art bronze figurines, and mid 20th century art. He was an avid photographer from the age of 9. He was preceded in death by his sister Marian Joy Brereton, and brother Robert Comish Crockett and is survived by his wife Ann and his sister Margaret Ruth Crockett, his son Mark Allen Crockett, daughter-in-law Judy Davis Crockett, granddaughters Lauren and Rachel Crockett, and many nieces, nephews and cousins. There will be no Memorial Service. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Stanford University for student scholarships.