Robert Eugene Cross

Robert (Bob) Eugene Cross, 91, entered eternal rest peacefully on August 17, 2023 after a long period of declining health. He was born November 15, 1931 in Neversink, NY and grew up in Liberty, NY. He married Dalene Davis, his beloved wife of 63 years, on November 21, 1959. Together they raised four children on their Hi-Lo Morgan Horse Farm in Castleton-on-Hudson, NY.

After he graduated from Liberty High School in 1949, he served his country for 4 years in the Navy from 1949-1953, then attended Hartwick College to complete a BA in History, where he met his future wife and joined the brotherhood of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. He earned a Masters in Education from SUNY Albany, and later completed a Masters in Urban- Environmental Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

As a high school history teacher at Maple Hill High School for 27 years, he educated numerous students about the history and economics of our country, as well as world culture and specific U.S. cultural issues. In addition, Bob coached bowling, track & field, Model Congress, the Answers Please team, directed high school musicals, and served as basketball clock keeper both during and long after he retired from teaching. His hobbies, which were equally broad- ranging, included leader of the bi-weekly ‘sing-a-long with Bob’ at the local nursing home, gardening, handyman, woodworking, farrier, leader of a 4-H horseback riding club, painting, travel, pie-making, and grandchild-sitting. He was famous for all of these endeavors, and of course, a few are infamous in family lore. He was also a loyal fan of his children’s and granddaughter’s activities, and a very active alumnus/fundraiser/Alumni Association Board member of Hartwick College. The entire family enjoyed Bob and Dale’s 50th anniversary cruise in 2009.

Bob is pre-deceased by his parents, Percy and Mabel (Wilfert) Cross, and all 8 of his siblings (Raymond, Enid, Norman, Irene “Renee”, Lorraine “Dew”, Russell, Janice, and Glenn).

He is survived by all of his children (Victoria and her husband Dale Shuster, Valerie and her husband Timothy Dorn, Timothy and his wife Margaret, and Teresa), and all of his grandchildren (Ashley Cross and her husband Mitchell Housman, Alysha Cross and her husband Jago Moore, Kayla and her husband Clayton Shuster Sasaki, and Kellyn Shuster).

Calling hours with the family will be on August 28 beginning at 9:30 am with a brief service at 11 am at the Castleton Funeral Home on Seaman Avenue. His cremains will be interred at the Saratoga National Cemetery, NY with Military Funeral Honors in a private ceremony with the immediate family.

Gifts in lieu of flowers may be made to the American Red Cross. Bob had a universal donor blood type and gave more than 10 gallons of blood during his life.