Gail G. Cross

Gail Grant Cross was born November 27, 1936, to Thomas Cross and Juanita (Nelson) Cross of Belle Plaine, Kansas.  He was the fourth child, having two older brothers and a sister.  He grew up on their dairy farm two miles west of town on the Ninnescah River.  His first eight years of schooling were in the local one-room school called Meeker.  In Belle Plaine High School he was active in 4-H, football, playing the French horn in the band, and singing.  He sang in a male quartet and was fond of the memory of being cast as Melchior in “Amahl and the Night Visitors.”  All his family were active in the First Presbyterian Church of Belle Plaine, and he was baptized and confirmed there.  As a senior he became the Sunday School superintendent.  Gail graduated from Belle Plaine High School in 1954.  After graduating from high school, he went on to Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, where he majored in Agricultural Economics.  He was also a member of the TKE Fraternity and the Kansas State Marching Band. Being active in the Westminster Fellowship, he was encouraged by their pastor to spend his junior year at Hislop College in Nagpur, India, in the Presbyterian Junior Year Abroad program.  During that year, he developed a commitment to the world wide ministry of the church.  Gail graduated from Kansas State in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Gail went on to McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.  Since his youth, he had a sense of being called into ministry.  At Seminary he met and married Sylvia Johnstone, and they were married June 30, 1959, in her hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The following summer Gail attended the Boston Theological Seminary for a course in pastoral clinical training.  Gail graduated from Seminary in 1961 with a Bachelor of Divinity degree.  He was ordained by the Presbytery of Wichita and received a call to serve at the First Presbyterian Church in Auburn, Illinois.  After four years of serving there, he was called to serve at the Nameoki Presbyterian Church in Granite City, Illinois.

During the 1960’s Gail was very involved in civil rights issues.  He and other pastors from the area met together to work on problems of integration.  He joined a march on Washington led by Dr. Martin Luther King to protest the Vietnam War.  He also continued his education, earning a Master’s Degree in Guidance Counseling from the University of Illinois.

In 1969, he was called to serve his home church, the First Presbyterian Church of Belle Plaine, which he served for eleven years, longer than any other pastor.  Since it was a part-time commitment, he was also hired as a guidance counselor in the high school.  During this time his parents suffered ill health and he and his family moved to the farm to care for his mother.  While living there he enjoyed teaching their children to feed lambs and baby calves.  They eventually purchased the farm.

Gail was later called to serve the Effingham Union Church, in the town of Effingham, Kansas, the yoked churches of Spencer Memorial and Hope Presbyterian Churches in Lemmon, South Dakota.  In 1990 he was called to serve the yoked Nebraska Presbyterian Churches of Fairbury and Steele City.  He was active in the Social Justice and Peacekeeping Committee.  In Fairbury a new church was built on land donated by a faithful family and was designed without any steps so as to be completely accessible.

In retirement, Gail purchased a small farm four miles from Fairbury and enjoyed raising dairy cattle and a fruit orchard.

Gail passed away on November 1st, 2024, at the age of 87.

He is preceded in death by his parents, daughter Carol Lynn, brother Tom Cross, brother-in-law Ollie Rieley, sister-in-law Alice Cross, nephews Kurt Cross, Jeff Cross, Rob Cross, and Larry Cross.

Gail is survived by his family members which include his wife Sylvia Cross; daughter Marcia Cross; daughter Amy Beth and her children Adedamola, Sarah, and Violet; son Daniel and wife Tracey and their children, Nicholas and wife Emily Auten, Megan and husband Ian Gilbert, and one great-grandchild Isaiah. Gail is also survived by his brother Dick Cross, sister Betty Jo Rieley, sister-in-law June Cross, nieces, nephews, and many friends.

A Memorial Service will be held for Gail on November 18, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. at the First United Presbyterian Church in Fairbury, Nebraska.