Maureen was born on April 10, 1943 to Elizabeth (Zupon) Kasnic and Nick J. Kasnic. She was a "war baby" born in Akron, OH where Nick was wing production supervisor for the Mustang aircraft during World War II. She and her older brother, Michael, were raised in a loving Slovenian/Croatian family in and around Cleveland, OH. Their parents moved to Phoenix, AZ and then Albuquerque, NM in the early 1950's for job opportunities.

Maureen attended Sandia High School in Albuquerque and graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1965. She then received a Masters in Library Science from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Her first librarian position was at the Levittown Public Library in Long Island, NY.

A love of the West brought her to the Denver Public Library where she held various positions from 1969-1978. In 1979 she completed a Post-Masters Certificate at the University of Denver that led to working as a research librarian for a private economic research company. Following that, she worked for 20 years at the Colorado State Library as Public Library Trainer/Consultant and part-time State Publications Specialist until retirement in 2006. Maureen was a part-time Adjunct Faculty at the Emporia (Kansas) State University of Library and Information Management and also a part-time instructor at Front Range Community College in Westminster.

While taking golf lessons at Denver's Twilight Gold Club, Maureen met her husband Howard F. Crocker III (known as Freeman). His father, Howard, started the Twilight club. His pioneer Great-Grandfather, Freeman B., settled in Denver (then called Auraria) in 1864. Maureen and Freeman married on October 26, 1974 in Denver, CO at his parent's home. They shared interests in photography, both creating and collecting; aviation history, especially World War II; collecting Native American Art; visiting New Mexico spiritual sites; and birdwatching trips.

Maureen loved photography, travel to New Mexico, gardening, reading, family genealogy, target shooting and bird watching. A special interest in birds of prey led her to volunteer for the Raptor Education Foundation assisting in school/adult educational presentations. She also volunteered for the Colorado Division of Wildlife presenting adult education workshops and helping with local wildlife survey projects.

As an introspective person, Maureen was more of a listener than a talker. She showed her strength as a three-time cancer survivor. First, in 1992 with Colon Cancer, then Melanoma in 2005 while receiving treatments for a 2001 diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma that lasted until remission in 2015.

She is survived by her brother, Michael, nephew David and niece Diana.