William "Bill" H Cross II

He was 75. He was born on July 27th, 1937, in Tyler Texas.

His father was William Hardee Cross, and his mother was

Clara Ruth Earley (Ruth). He was raised in the Napa Valley.

He and his first wife, Jan, raised five children, and two of the girls were twins,

who have since passed.

Arleen Condon passed on April 12, 2006, and her twin Starleen “Star” passed away on July 18, 2010.

He is survived by his wife, Marla Cross; Doreen Cross (daughter) in Fresno;

Laurie Bury (daughter) who lives in Phoenix, Arizona;

and William Hardee Cross III, who was living in Seattle last we heard from him;

Barrett Metheny (stepson), Joel Metheny (stepson),

Fresno; and Holly Sumner (stepdaughter), Fresno; 15 grandchildren, and 7 great grandchildren.

In the early days he held a variety of jobs to support his family and then

became a police officer in Hayward, California. He then

moved his family to Fresno, went to the Fresno City Police Academy,

and was a police lieutenant when he retired in 1981. He absolutely loved being a police officer!

Bill divorced and then married Dianna Sumner, who passed away on

November 20th, 1998. They were married for approximately 25

years. He then married Marla Ellis during the International Conference in

Minnesota on July 1, 2000. She was a “package deal,” bringing her twin boys into the family.

He was passionate about genealogy and spent hours on his computer

looking up relatives. He had traced some family members

back to the 1600’s, and he had many original documents and

old photographs. His wife spent a lot of time standing in the doorway to

the “computer room” talking with him, because that’s where he spent most of his time!

He was a friend of Bill W’s for 30+ years, and he spread a lot of love

throughout that community, and he has a lot of people who

absolutely loved him. He spent a lot of time working with others,

and was passionate about the program. He was known in that

community as Bill Cross, Mr. C, Bill C, and there was a waitress at

Carrow’s who used to call him dollar Bill. He could usually be found

there after spending the evening with his friends of Bill W’s.

He and his wife got to travel across the United States on more

than one occasion and they were soul mates. They had a good life

together with their “puppy” dogs. Bill died at home in his sleep with

one puppy dog on the pillow behind his head and another at his side, and that’s what he wanted. He will be missed.

Visitation will be held at Whitehurst, Sullivan, Burns & Blair Funeral Home on Thursday, February 21, 2013 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

A Funeral Service will be held at Whitehurst, Sullivan, Burns & Blair Funeral Home on Friday, February 22, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. Intermet to follow at Belmont Memorial Park.