Lauretta Cross

Lauretta Cross, 85, of Milton-Freewater and formerly of La Grande and Enterprise, died July 9 at Walla Walla General Hospital.

Services were conducted by Pastor Jeff Siegel at the Enterprise Cemetery July 14.

Lauretta was born June 19, 1922 to James Everett and Etta Rebecca Rachau in La Grande. They lived on Pumpkin Ridge and later in Minam. In 1930, the family moved to Onalaska, Wash., where she graduated from the eighth grade. Her father didn't believe in higher education for women.

She married young and had three children. Then she divorced and worked in restaurants and the shipyard in Portland during the war. After living in La Grande again, Lauretta moved to Everett, Wash., in 1956 where she met Jerry Cross at a telephone company picnic. They married Jan. 31, 1959 in Vancouver, Wash. The next year the family moved to Enterprise. She was a homemaker and worked part-time.

Lauretta was a former president and lifetime member of VFW Auxiliary No. 4307. She was a seamstress and made a variety of crafts. She kept a beautiful yard and was admired for her home decorating and remodeling skills, family members said. She enjoyed canning and made Christmas candies that her family looked forward to every year.

Lauretta and her husband loved to dance. She loved camping, fishing, woodcutting and hunting. She taught her children outdoors skills, and they now pass those skills on to their own children.

In 2001 Lauretta moved in with her daughter, Lee, and later to an assisted living facility. She was baptized in 2005 and was a member of Ingle Chapel Congregational Church in Milton-Freewater.

Survivors include sons, Don Cross of Eugene, Everett Cross of Tampa, Fla., and Dick and wife Debbie Cross of Joseph; daughters, Lorna Nell of Eatonville, Wash., Carrie and husband Grover Scotton of Morton, Wash., and Lee and husband Lyle Davis of Milton-Freewater; 28 grandchildren; and many great and great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by husband, Jerry; son, Jerry; brothers, Elmer and Lloyd Rachau and two grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to any charity in care of Bollman Funeral Home, 315 W. Main St., Enterprise, 97828