Patricia Ann Cross

Patricia Ann Cross, born February 21, 1935 in Rahway, NJ, died on June 25, 2025 in Danvers, MA. Pat relished her childhood in Plainfield, NJ, the youngest of three children of Lawrence and Margaret Hogan (neé May). Always a hard worker, she graduated as valedictorian from both Holy Trinity High School (1953) and Newark State Teachers’ College (1957). In school, she fell in love with the English language and throughout her life was an avid reader and enthusiastic teacher. After graduation, she found work as a teacher and spent her summers working as a waitress at the Provincetown Inn. Soon after, she moved to Boston, worked at Little Brown Publishing Company and studied literature in the evenings at Boston University. Pat returned to teaching in Garden City, New York in the early 1960’s. She loved her students and her job. She commuted from Gramercy Park in Manhattan to Long Island and took evening classes at Hunter College where she pursued a master’s degree. The day before Valentine’s Day 1966, her friends introduced her to fellow New Yorker, Gilbert Cross. Gil was a writer and editor at Fortune magazine. In the evenings he would help Pat grade papers. They were married after a five-month courtship and soon welcomed Timothy (1967) and Caitlin (1969) to their family. In 1971, they moved to Westport, CT where Pat focused all her energies on raising her children. She organized spectacular birthday parties for the kids and taught Sunday school. Pat began another life-long passion – Jackie Sorensen’s aerobic dance. She became a bi-weekly devotee and danced for more than 40 years in all of the five states where she lived. As her kids started school, Pat began freelancing and then worked full-time for Reader’s Digest educational division, working on language arts textbooks for elementary school. In 1982, the family moved to Pepper Pike, OH, a suburb of Cleveland, for Gil’s new job. Pat was disappointed to leave Westport and Reader’s Digest, but she continued freelance work in Ohio. In 1984, Pat accepted a job at Silver Burdette and Ginn publishers and the family moved once more – first to Chatham, NJ and eventually to Franklin, MA. In 1993, Pat and Gil followed Tim to Portland, ME where they enjoyed their retirement watching the boats from Spring Point and taking trips to the Lobster Shack at Two Lights. Pat was a parishioner of Sacred Heart Church, where she belonged to the Agape prayer group and volunteered at the food pantry. Pat cherished the many years she spent reading one-on-one with Kindergarten students through the Storyboost program at Reiche Elementary School. A few years after Gil passed in 2010, Pat made the difficult decision to leave her home in Portland to be closer to Caitlin and her family. In Arlington, MA Pat attended her grandchildren’s countless plays, concerts, dance recitals. She continued aerobic dancing and developed new passions including monthly trips to hear the BSO, a tradition started by her dear friend Sue Ewing. In her eighties, Pat began to explore the world - travelling with Caitlin’s family to the Bahamas, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, England, Ireland and Singapore and with her childhood friend, Gail Logan, across the Canadian Rockies. Pat is survived by her son Tim and his wife Morgan of Hollis, ME, her daughter Caitlin and her husband Rajeev and their children Dhruva and Asha, of Arlington, MA, her sister Marjorie McGrath of Milford, NJ, and her brother Lawrence Hogan and his wife Judy of Port St. Lucie, FL. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:00 AM Wednesday July 2, 2025 at Sacred Heart Church, 65 Mellon Street, Portland, ME. Burial to follow in Evergreen Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Sacred Heart/Saint Dominic Food Pantry, 307 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101 portlandcatholic.org/sh-sd-food-pantry

Patricia Ann Cross

February 21, 1935 - June 25, 2025

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