Obituary of Claire - Cross

Claire Cross passed away in Santa Cruz on July 31 at the age of 97. Born Clara Yedashkin in Bender Hamlet, Manitoba, Canada to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, she grew up in Winnipeg, after her father gave up farming, bought a horse and wagon and became a furniture mover. In her twenties, she joined her sisters in Los Angeles, trading the cold prairie winter for California sunshine. She was at the Oscars red carpet, the year "Gone with the Wind", her favorite movie, won best picture. In 1941 she came to San Francisco, working as a hotel elevator operator, then front office cashier at the St. Francis Hotel, where she met Dorsey Cross, a bellman in the same hotel. They married in 1944 and she became a U.S citizen in 1948. Claire continued working while raising a family and was a devoted and caring mother, who instilled in her children a love of reading and of good food. She enjoyed knitting, dancing and singing for many years in a Sweet Adeline's chorus. Some of her fondest memories were of cruises to Hawaii and the Mediterranean. She was proud of her long career in the best hotels, like the Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles and Stanford Court in San Francisco, where she enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. A widow since 1975, she moved to Santa Cruz in 1980 to be close to her grandchildren and continued working in local hotels. She is survived by son Jeffrey Cross, daughter-in-law Laura LeFevre Cross, granddaughters Rayanna and Alexandra Cross, son Steven Cross, sister Shirley Stanley and many affectionate nieces and nephews. At her request, no services will be held. Donations in her memory may be made to Soroptimist International of Capitola-by-the-Sea, P.O. Box 576, Capitola, 95010.