Ronald Maurice Cross

CROSS, SNYDER, MATTHEWS, CROSSLEA, GRIMM, WILEY, ORR, WIELE, METTKE

Posted By: Skipton
Date: 1/7/2011 at 22:16:02

Ronald Maurice Cross, age 94, of Wapello, died Saturday evening, August 29, 2009, at the Wapello Nursing and Rehab Center. The son of Alvin Jerome and Inez Anna Snyder, he was born on March 3, 1915 at rural Letts, Iowa. He married Fannie Lea Matthews on May 6, 1939 at Burlington. She preceded him in death on January 19, 2003.

Ronald grew up in Grandview and graduated from Grandview High School in 1932. He attended Cornell College for two years and graduated from the University of Iowa. He moved to rural Wapello and farmed for many years. He taught Junior High for the Wapello Community School District for several years and retired in 1980.

He was a member of the United Methodist Church at Wapello, the Masonic Lodge #5 A.F. and A.M. at Wapello, an Honorary Lifetime Member and board member of the Archeological Society of Iowa, a past president of the Library board and the church board, was a conservationist of soil serving on the ASCS Board, a member of the Louisa County Farm Bureau, the Louisa County Historical Society, the Louisa County Genealogical Society and the Izaak Walton League. He had twice won the state duck calling competition. He enjoyed nature especially the bluebirds for which he built, placed, and maintained some 200 houses in the area for many years and was a member of the Bluebird Society.

Ronald is survived by his six children, Jerome L. ‘Jerry’ and Mary Cross of Wapello, Ronald M. ‘Ron’ and Joan Cross of Fairfax, Virginia, Sue Ellen CrossLea of Iowa City, Carla E. and Keith Grimm of Wapello, Deborah ’Debbie’ and Russ Wiley of Wapello, and Douglas R. Cross and Lorraine Orr of Wapello; twenty grandchildren; forty-five great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandson; a brother, Warren Wiele of Waterloo; and a sister, Emma Lou Mettke of Anaheim, California. He was preceded in death by his parents; his stepfather, Lester Wiele; and two brothers, Norbert and Howard.

Following cremation friends called from noon to 8:00 PM on Tuesday at the Dudgeon-McCulley Funeral Home at Wapello where the family met friends from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. The funeral ceremony for Ronald Cross will be held at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, September 2, 2009, at the United Methodist Church at Wapello with Rev. Scott Smith officiating. The burial will follow at the Mallory Cemetery rural Wapello. The family and friends will gather for a lunch fellowship at the Briggs Center in Wapello after the burial.

A memorial fund has been established for the benefits of the Izaak Walton League, the Louisa County Conservation Commission, and the Louisa County Historical Society.