Anne-Marie Gross

parents Malcolm and Olga Gross.

The family moved to Turlock, CA in 1973, then built a house in Riverbank,

CA in 1976 where they resided until 2007. In the early years, Anne-Marie, or as

she was affectionately known “Reegi” or “Reeg,” looked after her younger sister,

Alicia, by picking her up from school, teaching her math, and how to read during

the year, particularly in the summer months.

Anne-Marie’s first cat was named Mitzi. Mitzi was run over by a car in the

street, so she decided any future cat would be an inside cat. Anne-Marie adopted

another cat, Kausten Shockley (named after a former Angel baseball player). As

you can see, Anne-Marie’s love for the Angels had developed early, mostly due to

her Dad’s love of baseball and the Angels. Kausten or “Bubbas” became a

constant companion for Anne-Marie.

Anne-Marie attended St. Stanislaus parochial school and Central Catholic

High School in Modesto, CA. She was in a hurry to get on with her life and so left

for University of California at Berkeley after her junior year of high school.

After her sister returned from college on the east coast, they once again

spent a lot of time together, becoming inseparable. When Alicia transferred to the

Dept. of Justice Crime Lab in Riverside, Anne-Marie soon followed and they lived

together in SoCal as they had always wanted.

When Anne-Marie had some health issues, it was Alicia who monitored her

medicine and watched after her older sister. They were not only sisters, but also

best friends.

In 2007, we all purchased a house in Colton, so that we could all live

together. The whole family lived here, Anne-Marie and Alicia in one wing and

Olga and Malcolm in the other wing. Then as more cats needed to be rescued, the

cat population began to increase. Both Anne-Marie and Alicia loved animals and,

in particular, cats. In fact, Best Friends Animal Society caught their attention and

it wasn’t long before they made a trip to Kanab, Utah, to the Best Friends’

Sanctuary. They repeated this trip several times a year, taking Mom and Dad along

as well. Anne-Marie and Alicia did volunteer work for Best Friends, both in Utah

and Los Angeles. Anne-Marie was a financial contributor to Best Friends, among

other rescue organizations.

Throughout her life she was an avid baseball fan and sports fan and she

understood the game. Her Dad’s secretary can testify to the many phone calls to

his office that became known as “sports updates” and they continued to the day

she passed away.

When Olga and Malcolm recently returned from a vacation, Alicia greeted

them with a “welcome home” and Anne-Marie sent her Dad a text that said, “What

are the Angels going to do with Hamilton.” That was Anne-Marie, her love was a

given and Alicia, Olga and Malcolm have always known it.

Anne-Marie will be greatly missed by all her family and friends. She was

always there for everyone and we suspect she always will be in some form or

another. God Bless our wonderful loving daughter, sister, niece, friend and “kitty

mom” to her many pets, who are just beginning to sense her loss.

Anne-Marie will have a Graveside Service on Monday, April 27, 2015 at 1:00 PM at Montecito Memorial Park in Colton, California.