Oscar E. Cronk Jr., 94, of Gardiner Road, Wiscasset, died Tuesday, May 21, 2025 at Midcoast Hospital in Brunswick. He was born in Haynesville on June 12, 1930, son of Oscar E. and Susie P. (Easler) Cronk Sr. The family started their lives in Aroostook County, later moving to Bucksport, then Newcastle and to Wiscasset in 1942 when Oscar was 12. After school he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving from 1948-1950. Oscar married Edith “Edie” A. Pickering on Sept. 3, 1960.
Oscar loved the outdoors. He once talked his neighbor, Lawrence Croxford, into taking him along on a trapping trip. Lawrence was a skilled woodsman and a good mink trapper. This began Oscar’s trapping career. He credited Vince Hinks for showing him many tricks of the trapping trade.
He decided to give scent-making a try and soon went into business for himself and bought out the Howe Fur Co. in Coopers Mills, owned by Ed Howe who owned the rights to the scent formulas developed by hunter/trapper V.E. Lynch. Finding it more difficult making scents than he had thought, he turned to good friend Walter Arnold, who was one of Maine’s premier hunters and trappers, and the maker of Arnold’s Hunting Scents. Oscar and Walter learned the art of scent making from Lon Arnold who made a living trapping beaver, mink, and other fur bearing animals. The Arnold family had been making scents since 1870.
Through trial and error Oscar began making his own scents and, in 1963, he and Edie opened their own business in the small garage next to their home. Oscar put all his scents through what he called, “Cronk’s Outdoor Test.” Among his original deer lures are, Cronk’s “Buck Joy,” “Ruttin’ Buck,” and “Master Deer Lure.” All are well known across the country. In 1971 Oscar and Edie built the “Log Cabin” on their property, naming it “Cronk’s Outdoor Supplies.” Here they could display his scents along with other outdoor supplies.
Beginning in 1971 he and Edie hosted Cronk’s Trappers Days, which was quite an event back in the day. Up on the beam in the sunroom of their home is a bobcat that his dog, Fly, a bluetick hound, got when the cat tried to climb a tree. Oscar said he just had to have that mounted because Fly killed it, an impressive feat for a female hound.
Oscar was president of the Maine Trappers Association from 1964 thru 1978. He held the Maine Trapping License No. 1, a privilege that goes along with being president. He was a founding member and, until 1978, vice president of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. SAM is an organization in Maine formed in 1975 to resist threats to hunting and trapping. He wrote several books including two biographies; one on V.E. Lynch and the other on Pete Rickard. Of course, Oscar is in the Trappers Hall of Fame. In 2016 he was awarded the hall’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
At the age of 77, Oscar went on what he referred to as a “trip of a lifetime,” where he shot the mountain lion that is on display in the L.L. Bean showroom. Bean’s had carried his scents for many years so he decided to give it to them to display for other hunters to enjoy.
After 60 years Oscar E. Cronk Jr., at the age of 91, took down the Cronk’s Outdoor Supplies sign and retired, selling his business to the Pete Rickard Co., of Galetan, Pa., a supplier of hunting accessories.
Oscar joined the American Legion in 1953 and recently attended an Honor Flight Program. The program is for veterans, particularly those from WWII, the Korean War, and Vietnam. They are flown to Washington, D.C. at no cost to them, to visit memorials built in their honor.
Oscar was very strong in his faith and relationship with the lord. He and Edie stopped hosting the Trappers Days and began observing the bible Sabbath of the fourth commandment, Exodus 20:8, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the day of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any work” … Oscar and Edie followed the Sabbath.
Oscar preferred to think of himself as the last of his breed and he was. Oscar E. Cronk was a nationally known outdoorsman. He not only enjoyed hunting, trapping, fishing, training dogs, and making scents, he really enjoyed sharing his knowledge of the sports, and the stories he had were priceless.
He was predeceased by his wife, Edith; daughter, Debra “Debbie” Jean Cronk; twin brothers, Milford L. Cronk and Wilford S. Cronk; and brother, Raymond Gudroe. He is survived by sister, Evelyn (Robert) Grover, of Wiscasset; and many nephews and nieces and friends. He will be sadly missed.
Funeral services will be held at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 235 Eastern Ave., Augusta, ME 04330 on June 29, 2025 at 11 a.m. Lunch will be served following the service.
Afterwards, at 2 p.m., a burial will be held at Old Greenlawn Cemetery back section, at 95 Rumerill Road in Wiscasset. He will rest next to his beloved wife, Edie. In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations in honor of Oscar to the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, 205 Church Hill Road, Augusta, ME 04330, or to The Maine Trappers Association, 73 Shaws Mill Road, Gorham, ME 04038.
Arrangements are by Daigle Funeral Home, 819 High St., Bath, ME 04530. Condolences may be made online at daiglefuneralhome.com.
