Jack D. Cross

In our family, we had a saying about Jack, “Grandaddy can fix anything!”  And it was true - not only did his life span two millenniums, it also spanned two technological ages:  the Industrial Age and the Digital Age.  Whether it was repairing a mechanical hinge or soldering a capacitor to a printed circuit board, Jack could do it.

He began his working life in 1939 at Western Union Telegraph Company in San Francisco.  But telegraphs were “old” technology; he soon began working for radio companies like Wunderlich Radio Company and E.M. Sargent Company.

When the U.S. entered WWII, Jack joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a radio/radar operator on the Destroyer Escort “Eldridge” (D.E. 173).  He served in both the North Atlantic and Pacific theaters of war.  

After the war, Jack assumed a new position, “husband”, when he returned to California with his new bride, Anastasia Boyhan Cross.  He took a job with radio station KYNO in Fresno, CA as a radio engineer/DJ.  In 1948, Jack’s role expanded to include “father”, when their 13-year-old nephew, Hugh, joined them.

In the 1960’s, a new era began - digital technology.  So Jack and Stacia moved to the Bay Area, where he began working at high-tech companies such as Raytheon and Hewlett Packard.  Jack retired from HP in 1988.

In the 1980’s, he took on two new roles, Wendy’s “father-in-law” and Ellie’s “Granddaddy”.  Even though he was retired, he gladly put his technological skills to use whenever there was a need, whether it was a broken kitchen mixer or a broken toy.  You see…Grandaddy could fix anything!

...Family in the care of Erin Arteaga, Funeral Director