FREEDOM – Stephen Myrick Cross, 90, died Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011, at Tall Pines Nursing Home, Belfast. He was born May 22, 1921, in Montville.
“Steve” as his friends knew him, spent his whole life on the dairy farm in Freedom, first with his parents, Avis Myrick Cross and Perley Shepherd Cross, and then independently with his wife of 69 years, Hazel Tyler Cross, who survives him. After graduating from Freedom Academy in 1939 and many years of dairy farming, Stephen worked as a custodian and bus driver for Mount View School, Thorndike, before joining Maine Highway Department, Knox garage, where he was fondly known as “Gramps.” After retirement he worked part time for Lawry Brothers Funeral Home, serving as a familiar host for many local families who had services at the Unity branch. Stephen served as a school board member, a trustee of Freedom Academy, a selectman and moderator of the local town meetings. He was also a member of Freedom Volunteer Fire Department and a lifelong member and past master of Dirigo Grange. In 1983 he was recognized as Freedom’s Man of the Year. Recently, he had been an active member of Quaker Hill Christian Church, Unity. Steve’s love and extensive knowledge of horses spanned his lifetime of owning and working teams of draft horses. He was a master storyteller and a beloved local historian.
Additional surviving family members include his son, the Rev. Dr. Myrick Tyler Cross and daughter-in-law, Amy Cole Cross, of Bar Harbor and Freedom; his daughter, Dr. Ruth Tyler-Cross of Reston, Va.; his grandchildren, Stephen Eloihim of Reston, Va., Carrie Cross, and husband, David Choi, of Medford, Mass., and Katherine Cross of Bar Harbor and Freedom; his great-grandchildren, Tristan Cross Choi and Acadia Cross Choi, both of Medford, Mass.; a cousin, Foster Shibles of Harrison; as well as several other cousins.
Visiting hours will be held 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21m at the family farm, 52 Peasant St., Freedom. A celebration of Stephen’s life will be held 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at Freedom Congregational Church with a reception at the farm afterward. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to a scholarship fund being created at Mount View High School for a graduate pursuing a vocation in agriculture or veterinary medicine. Send to Stephen Cross Scholarship, care of Bangor Savings Bank, P.O. Box 670, Unity, ME 04988. Arrangements are by Lawry Brothers Funeral Home, 107 Main St., Fairfield. Condolences may be expressed at
www.lawrybrothers.com.