Obituary of Robert Cross

Robert Thomas Cross Hampstead, NC-- Robert Thomas Cross of 106 Marsh Creek Drive, Hampstead, NC died Wednesday (April 29, 2009) in his home. Born July 2, 1934, in Warsaw, NY, he was the son of Richard and Catherine Cross of Perry, NY. Robert graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 1956 with a degree in accounting. It was there he met his late wife Beverly Disorbo whom he married, on June 20th, 1959 in St. John's Church in Olean, NY. She predeceased him June 17, 2008. Robert entered the Army as an artillery officer and was stationed at Fort Bragg, NC. After two close calls, including a tank running over his foot, he left the military for relatively safer occupations in civilian life. Robert was very bright had a successful career which included many years as a comptroller for Combustion Engineering's glass division in Valley Forge, PA and Chief Financial Officer for SL Industries in Marlton, NJ. In 1989 he moved with his wife to North Carolina. During his retirement he volunteered in his community with such things as tax assistance and as a statistician for the local high school football team. After his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Robert dedicated years of his life to devotedly caring for her. During those exhausting years, Robert grew to understand the need in the community for volunteers to help the elderly and ill. Meals On Wheels would have been a profound help to him during that time, but there were no volunteers in the area to transport the food to those in need. After his wife succumbed to Alzheimer's disease last year, he volunteered as a driver for Meals On Wheels to help provide the service he knew was desperately needed. But the years of caring for his wife and neglecting his own needs had taken their toll. And only 10 months after he laid her to rest, he has now joined her in death. Robert is survived by his son, Richard Cross of Fort Lawn, S.C. and his daughter Elizabeth (Douglas) Cross-Smith of Sheffield Lake, Ohio; four grandchildren; and two sisters, Mary Alarie of Rochester, and Ann Cross of Rochester; and numerous nieces and nephews. Friends will be received at the Casey, Halwig & Hartle Funeral Home, 3128 W. State Road, Olean, on Monday from 10 a.m. to noon. A prayer service will begin at noon in the funeral home followed by a funeral service at St. John's Church in Olean at 12:30pm. Deacon Don Radlinski will officiate. Burial will be in St. Bonaventure Cemetery, Allegany. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Katherine Geoghegan DiSorbo Memorial Scholarship Fund through the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, PA.