Kenneth Cross age 76 of Lancaster, CA formerly of Carroll, IA passed away at his home. The funeral service will be 1:00 p.m. Saturday, September 23, 2023, at the Lampe & Powers Funeral Home in Lake City, IA. The burial will take place in Cory Grove Cemetery in Sac City, IA.
Kenneth was born on October 2, 1946, in Sac City, IA. He moved to Carroll, IA when he was ten years old and graduated from Carroll High School in 1964. After graduation, he attended Northwest Missouri State for a year and then attended Webster City Junior College for another year, but didn’t really find any interest, so he decided to join the United States Navy in 1966.
The Navy took him to San Diego for boot camp, which was his first jet ride. Ken loved San Diego because of the amazing weather and because he was a huge Beach Boys fan! Since he was a radio disc jockey at college, he was assigned to an Air Traffic Control school in Glynco, GA. Ken graduated from his ATC class and was assigned to Adak Naval Air Station in Alaska. While there, Ken met some of his closest friends, caught his biggest fish, and worked at the Control Tower and the Radar Approach Control facility.
After Adak ended, he was assigned to Brunswick Naval Air Station in Maine. He spent two and half years there, was married to his first wife, and had their son, Kelly. After the Navy, Ken was hired by Boston Air Traffic Control Center in Nashua, NH, where he then attended the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, OK. He decided to return to school and got his degree in Business Administration. After seven years, they were transferred to California, where he worked for Los Angeles Air Traffic Control until August 1981. During this time, the PATCO union took them on strike and they all got fired from their jobs by President Reagan. A lot of things changed after that for Ken, he got divorced and then later met and married Maria, whom he spent 37 wonderful years with.
Ken got offered a job working for Rockwell, building and testing B-1 bombers. He accepted and got hired on as a Systems Safety Engineering in the Flight Safety department. He enjoyed his work and testing bombs and missiles and working on 6 B-1’s. When that program came to an end, Ken was hired at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base as a Flight Safety Engineer. This was his “coolest job ever”. He did lots of traveling and continued to work until his retirement in 2019 at 72.
When Ken wasn’t working for NASA, he enjoyed golfing with his buddies, restoring his vintage Corvette, road trips throughout California, family reunions in Las Vegas, and listening to Eagles’ music. He was an avid New England Patriots fan and attended many games with his son, Kelly. Ken also had a passion for the many cats and dogs he had rescued over the years.
Ken’s family would like to express their deep gratitude to his wife, Maria, and her daughter, Kris, and husband, Ron Ciotti, and family for their tremendous support and dedication to their loving care for Ken and serving his needs in his final days.
“Those we hold most dear never leave us. They live on in the kindness they showed, the comfort they shared, and the love they brought into….life”. -Norton
Those left to cherish his memory include his wife Maria Cross of Lancaster, CA; son Kelly Cross of Riverside, CA; grandchildren: Ashley and Mason; sister Jeanne Cross Geiger of Ocean Isle Beach, NC; stepfather Richard Vanderheiden of Auburn, IA; nieces and nephews: Wesley Broers, Kim Cross, Suzanne Harrell, and Jodie Miller.
Ken was preceded in death by his parents, Beth Vanderheiden and Gene Cross; sisters Sandra and JoAnne, and brother Kevin.
