Mary Ann Crocker, 62, a resident of Idyllwild for about 10 years, died at Hemet Valley Medical Center on Wednesday, March 29, 2000.

Ms. Crocker was born Feb. 11, 1938, in South-gate in Los Angeles. She was a housewife most of her life but sang light opera between the ages of 19 and 22, and loved singing her whole life. She belonged to a light opera group in Sacramento and was on the same program with Nat King Cole at one time.

Ms. Crocker and her brother, Derwood Crocker, camped at Camp Peak and Pine, a former Idyllwild summer camp, in the 1940s as children, falling in love with Idyllwild. After she married, Ms. Crocker built a summer home here.

For the past several years, she worked as a teacherÍs aid at Morning Sky School. Her brother said she knew many people in Idyllwild and he was welcomed by the small-town warmth when he was here after her death.

A funeral service was held Sunday, April 2, 2000, in Mission Viejo. Inurnment was private.

Besides her brother Derwood, she is survived by three sons, Conrad Kretzschmar of San Gabriel Valley, Tim Kretzschmar of Riverside and Kurt Kretzschmar of Chicago; a daughter, Kelli Aguero of San Juan Capistrano; and four grandchildren.