ROSE ANTOINETTE (DARMOFAL) CROSS
1923 - 2021
"Polish women are tough!" That's what our Uncle Sam said about Mom. And she was. Mom took nothing from nobody. Five feet, one and a half inches tall but her height gave few hints to her strength.
The oldest of seven, she was born in Jamaica, New York in 1923. Mom met Dad in 1945 while working for a needle manufacturer putting points on hypodermic needles for the war effort. She married Don, a Merchant Marine from St. Louis, Missouri, left her parents home in Long Island, New York and came west to live with her father-in-law Frank Cross in his Oildale "hacienda".
The hacienda turned out to be an adobe brick house with dirt floors, adjacent to the railroad tracks but Mom was unfazed.
Within six months of their marriage Dad shipped out to help finish the war. Her new sister-in-law, Sally Combs became her best friend and later another sister-in-law, Dot Cross joined them as they cared for each other's children and working jobs while their husbands were at war.
In postwar 1949 Rose and Don moved into the house that he built from the ground up, including digging the basement by shovel. The house began as a small two-bedroom expanding to a four-bedroom with the arrival of new children. Together they saw Oildale develop into a community where doors were never locked, you knew all your neighbors and never worried about where your children played or with whom. Lettie Mercer was her coffee buddy across the street and her long-time friend, Louella Buckner kept her laughing, shopping, and lunching for many wonderful years.
With six children Mom sewed clothes for us all. Dad's colorful shirts were the talk of P. G. E.'s electrical trouble-men and her muumuus were her own personal signature. My sister and I were always dressed to the nines for holidays and if you knew Mom, you probably have one of her crocheted afghans. With her kids grown she sewed for her grandchildren, kids at Beardsley School, quilted blankets for the Porterville Hospital and doll blankets for a Christmas toys charity program. She was very proud of her crocheted image of the Last Supper that still hangs in a Sacramento hospital where her daughter-in-law, Genevieve died in 1984.
All four of Mom's sons were track/cross-country runners at North High School and Bakersfield College and Mom was always in the stands with her long-time friend Anita Foose. That interest morphed into the Bakersfield Track Club. With their eldest son Paul, Mom and Dad managed the club activities for several years in the eighties.
Mom is survived by five of her children-Paul Cross (wife Linda), Jim Cross (wife Doylana), Victoria Cross-Forster (husband Paul), Bob Cross, and Donna Cross-Martin (husband Peter), her daughter-in-law Kim Cross, and her beloved sister Ann Cisek. Her second son John passed away in 2018.
Her nine grand children and two great grand children-Kelly Simonian (husband Matt) children Anna and Luke, Misty Cross, Jerad Cross, Matthew Cross, Megan Cross, Jeremy Martin, Lindsey Martin, Keith Martin, Allison Cross-Fry (husband Patrick)-gave her endless joy. She also kept in touch with her numerous nieces and nephews and their extended families along the east coast.
Services will held April 2, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. at the National Cemetery in Arvin, California.
Source: Unknown (contributed without attribution)
1923 - 2021
"Polish women are tough!" That's what our Uncle Sam said about Mom. And she was. Mom took nothing from nobody. Five feet, one and a half inches tall but her height gave few hints to her strength.
The oldest of seven, she was born in Jamaica, New York in 1923. Mom met Dad in 1945 while working for a needle manufacturer putting points on hypodermic needles for the war effort. She married Don, a Merchant Marine from St. Louis, Missouri, left her parents home in Long Island, New York and came west to live with her father-in-law Frank Cross in his Oildale "hacienda".
The hacienda turned out to be an adobe brick house with dirt floors, adjacent to the railroad tracks but Mom was unfazed.
Within six months of their marriage Dad shipped out to help finish the war. Her new sister-in-law, Sally Combs became her best friend and later another sister-in-law, Dot Cross joined them as they cared for each other's children and working jobs while their husbands were at war.
In postwar 1949 Rose and Don moved into the house that he built from the ground up, including digging the basement by shovel. The house began as a small two-bedroom expanding to a four-bedroom with the arrival of new children. Together they saw Oildale develop into a community where doors were never locked, you knew all your neighbors and never worried about where your children played or with whom. Lettie Mercer was her coffee buddy across the street and her long-time friend, Louella Buckner kept her laughing, shopping, and lunching for many wonderful years.
With six children Mom sewed clothes for us all. Dad's colorful shirts were the talk of P. G. E.'s electrical trouble-men and her muumuus were her own personal signature. My sister and I were always dressed to the nines for holidays and if you knew Mom, you probably have one of her crocheted afghans. With her kids grown she sewed for her grandchildren, kids at Beardsley School, quilted blankets for the Porterville Hospital and doll blankets for a Christmas toys charity program. She was very proud of her crocheted image of the Last Supper that still hangs in a Sacramento hospital where her daughter-in-law, Genevieve died in 1984.
All four of Mom's sons were track/cross-country runners at North High School and Bakersfield College and Mom was always in the stands with her long-time friend Anita Foose. That interest morphed into the Bakersfield Track Club. With their eldest son Paul, Mom and Dad managed the club activities for several years in the eighties.
Mom is survived by five of her children-Paul Cross (wife Linda), Jim Cross (wife Doylana), Victoria Cross-Forster (husband Paul), Bob Cross, and Donna Cross-Martin (husband Peter), her daughter-in-law Kim Cross, and her beloved sister Ann Cisek. Her second son John passed away in 2018.
Her nine grand children and two great grand children-Kelly Simonian (husband Matt) children Anna and Luke, Misty Cross, Jerad Cross, Matthew Cross, Megan Cross, Jeremy Martin, Lindsey Martin, Keith Martin, Allison Cross-Fry (husband Patrick)-gave her endless joy. She also kept in touch with her numerous nieces and nephews and their extended families along the east coast.
Services will held April 2, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. at the National Cemetery in Arvin, California.
Source: Unknown (contributed without attribution)
ROSE ANTOINETTE (DARMOFAL) CROSS
1923 - 2021
"Polish women are tough!" That's what our Uncle Sam said about Mom. And she was. Mom took nothing from nobody. Five feet, one and a half inches tall but her height gave few hints to her strength.
The oldest of seven, she was born in Jamaica, New York in 1923. Mom met Dad in 1945 while working for a needle manufacturer putting points on hypodermic needles for the war effort. She married Don, a Merchant Marine from St. Louis, Missouri, left her parents home in Long Island, New York and came west to live with her father-in-law Frank Cross in his Oildale "hacienda".
The hacienda turned out to be an adobe brick house with dirt floors, adjacent to the railroad tracks but Mom was unfazed.
Within six months of their marriage Dad shipped out to help finish the war. Her new sister-in-law, Sally Combs became her best friend and later another sister-in-law, Dot Cross joined them as they cared for each other's children and working jobs while their husbands were at war.
In postwar 1949 Rose and Don moved into the house that he built from the ground up, including digging the basement by shovel. The house began as a small two-bedroom expanding to a four-bedroom with the arrival of new children. Together they saw Oildale develop into a community where doors were never locked, you knew all your neighbors and never worried about where your children played or with whom. Lettie Mercer was her coffee buddy across the street and her long-time friend, Louella Buckner kept her laughing, shopping, and lunching for many wonderful years.
With six children Mom sewed clothes for us all. Dad's colorful shirts were the talk of P. G. E.'s electrical trouble-men and her muumuus were her own personal signature. My sister and I were always dressed to the nines for holidays and if you knew Mom, you probably have one of her crocheted afghans. With her kids grown she sewed for her grandchildren, kids at Beardsley School, quilted blankets for the Porterville Hospital and doll blankets for a Christmas toys charity program. She was very proud of her crocheted image of the Last Supper that still hangs in a Sacramento hospital where her daughter-in-law, Genevieve died in 1984.
All four of Mom's sons were track/cross-country runners at North High School and Bakersfield College and Mom was always in the stands with her long-time friend Anita Foose. That interest morphed into the Bakersfield Track Club. With their eldest son Paul, Mom and Dad managed the club activities for several years in the eighties.
Mom is survived by five of her children-Paul Cross (wife Linda), Jim Cross (wife Doylana), Victoria Cross-Forster (husband Paul), Bob Cross, and Donna Cross-Martin (husband Peter), her daughter-in-law Kim Cross, and her beloved sister Ann Cisek. Her second son John passed away in 2018.
Her nine grand children and two great grand children-Kelly Simonian (husband Matt) children Anna and Luke, Misty Cross, Jerad Cross, Matthew Cross, Megan Cross, Jeremy Martin, Lindsey Martin, Keith Martin, Allison Cross-Fry (husband Patrick)-gave her endless joy. She also kept in touch with her numerous nieces and nephews and their extended families along the east coast.
Services will held April 2, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. at the National Cemetery in Arvin, California.
Source: Unknown (contributed without attribution)
1923 - 2021
"Polish women are tough!" That's what our Uncle Sam said about Mom. And she was. Mom took nothing from nobody. Five feet, one and a half inches tall but her height gave few hints to her strength.
The oldest of seven, she was born in Jamaica, New York in 1923. Mom met Dad in 1945 while working for a needle manufacturer putting points on hypodermic needles for the war effort. She married Don, a Merchant Marine from St. Louis, Missouri, left her parents home in Long Island, New York and came west to live with her father-in-law Frank Cross in his Oildale "hacienda".
The hacienda turned out to be an adobe brick house with dirt floors, adjacent to the railroad tracks but Mom was unfazed.
Within six months of their marriage Dad shipped out to help finish the war. Her new sister-in-law, Sally Combs became her best friend and later another sister-in-law, Dot Cross joined them as they cared for each other's children and working jobs while their husbands were at war.
In postwar 1949 Rose and Don moved into the house that he built from the ground up, including digging the basement by shovel. The house began as a small two-bedroom expanding to a four-bedroom with the arrival of new children. Together they saw Oildale develop into a community where doors were never locked, you knew all your neighbors and never worried about where your children played or with whom. Lettie Mercer was her coffee buddy across the street and her long-time friend, Louella Buckner kept her laughing, shopping, and lunching for many wonderful years.
With six children Mom sewed clothes for us all. Dad's colorful shirts were the talk of P. G. E.'s electrical trouble-men and her muumuus were her own personal signature. My sister and I were always dressed to the nines for holidays and if you knew Mom, you probably have one of her crocheted afghans. With her kids grown she sewed for her grandchildren, kids at Beardsley School, quilted blankets for the Porterville Hospital and doll blankets for a Christmas toys charity program. She was very proud of her crocheted image of the Last Supper that still hangs in a Sacramento hospital where her daughter-in-law, Genevieve died in 1984.
All four of Mom's sons were track/cross-country runners at North High School and Bakersfield College and Mom was always in the stands with her long-time friend Anita Foose. That interest morphed into the Bakersfield Track Club. With their eldest son Paul, Mom and Dad managed the club activities for several years in the eighties.
Mom is survived by five of her children-Paul Cross (wife Linda), Jim Cross (wife Doylana), Victoria Cross-Forster (husband Paul), Bob Cross, and Donna Cross-Martin (husband Peter), her daughter-in-law Kim Cross, and her beloved sister Ann Cisek. Her second son John passed away in 2018.
Her nine grand children and two great grand children-Kelly Simonian (husband Matt) children Anna and Luke, Misty Cross, Jerad Cross, Matthew Cross, Megan Cross, Jeremy Martin, Lindsey Martin, Keith Martin, Allison Cross-Fry (husband Patrick)-gave her endless joy. She also kept in touch with her numerous nieces and nephews and their extended families along the east coast.
Services will held April 2, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. at the National Cemetery in Arvin, California.
Source: Unknown (contributed without attribution)
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