The obituary, shown below, was copied from
https://www.schmidtfuneralhome.net/obituaries/Norma-Jean-Cross?obId=32435245
(it may or may not still be available there)
Norma Jean Cross
November 18, 1928 - October 30, 2022
CELEBRATION OF LIFE AND ETERNAL GRADUATION
OF NORMA JEAN CROSS ON
OCTOBER 30, 2022
Mom's Life Our grandfather, David Snyder married Blanche Snyder in Bristol, Tennessee in 1924. Our mom, Norma Jean Cross / Snyder, was born on November 18, 1928 in Gooding, Idaho. She was the second daughter to be born to David and Blanche Snyder. Mom's father traveled extensively with family looking for work during the Great Depression. Mom's dad was no stranger to hard work as he was a devoted man to God and his family. Mom lived in Idaho, Tennessee, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Delaware and Houston, TX. Mom's parents taught Mom and her siblings the Holy Bible. She had seven (7) siblings which included a brother who died in infancy.
Mom grew up during the Great Depression and recognized early the facts of life in those days to have a "respect for money as a commodity hard to come by and quick to vanish." These were Mom's words which she wrote in the Family Reunion history entitled The South and Martin (Martin Grandmothers maiden name) Family History. Mom's early childhood was centered in North Carolina around her maternal grandparents, Jerd and Polly Martin (Mom's maternal grandparents) on their farm. In the Family History Mom recalls wonderful dinners every day at Grandmas with garden fresh vegetables, homemade bread with fresh churned butter, and lots of cold milk from the springhouse. In a comment Mom made about her grandfather she said, "we cousins would get tickled at Grandpas prayers and start giggling which prompted his next request: Lord, help these scalawags to learn some sense, and God Bless Poly." A matriarchal figure, resolute and keenly perceptive, Poly devoted herself to serving her family. In her native versatility, she could wring a chickens neck to prepare for Sunday dumplings or act as midwife in an emergency.
Mom's father, David Earl Snyder, came from a family of 11 children. Our paternal grandparents, Lydia Mammy and Roby Pap played a less central role in our childhood.
Mom moved with family to Pennsylvania in the waning years of the depression and on the heels of World War II. She left the comfort zone of a two-classroom school house in Green Valley, NC to enroll in Kennett Square Consolidated School where she began fourth grade. On Mom's first day of grade School, Mother boarded the wrong school bus and was discovered upon arrival at the bus parking garage with the bus driver but he returned her home safely. Mom's four sisters (Reba, Thelma, Lena, Tootsie) and brother (Dave) were all very special to her. Mom's dad began working in the mushroom business in Kennett Square where she later met our dad, Pete DiCecco. In Mom's words, "At the close of the war and out of school for the summer, I was working as a waitress in a restaurant in Kennett Square. A good looking blond, blue-eyed Italian army sergeant with a captivating smile sat down at the counter and ordered a piece of raisin pie. His name was Pete DiCecco." Dad said, Youre my neighbor, arent you? he asked. Yes, I believe so. I said. He left a $1.25 tip that day for a 15 cent piece of pie.
Mom graduated in the top 5% of her class and began working at DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware after high school. Mom wanted to learn how to dance and enrolled in the Arthur Murray School of Dance in Wilmington and learned how to dance. After two (2) years of working at DuPont, Mom was offered employment as a teacher but something more special was waiting in the wings. Our dad, Pete DiCecco, proposed to Mom and they planned to marry and move to Miami, Florida. Peter Lynn (Lenny) was the first born and 22 months later Joseph Wayne (Joey) was born. Mom calls her boys the delight of her life. Mom, dad and the boys later moved to Boca Raton where dad pioneered the mushroom growing business in Florida. The art of growing and marketing mushrooms was handed down to Pete and his brothers Tom and Al by their father, Luigi DiCecco.
Mom and family lived in a lovely residential community close to the ocean with palm trees. Mom worked in the renowned Boca Raton Hotel and Club convention department for two years.
In Mom's Words, "It was in Boca Raton, through the preaching of Billy Graham, based upon Gods plan for salvation in the Bible, that I trusted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, the most important decision I will ever make." There is a God-shaped vacuum in each of us that can be filled only by Him. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16). Mom commented that Jesus is the light of her life.
In 1966, Mom and family moved to Newark, Delaware where she was employed by Shell Oil Company. Mom remarried in the 1970s and later moved to Houston, TX in 1972 to be near her boys and remarried Guy Leander Cross in 1978. She was an active member of the Second Baptist Church and served in the counseling ministry.
Mother always taught her boys and grandchildren this key verse of scripture, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things (earthly matters) shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33).
Subsequent to Guys passing, Mom lived independently in a beautiful residential home from the mid 1990s through 2018. She then moved to the Buckingham in 2018 in Houston, TX and lived in the Independent living facility for the past four (4) years where she was a beacon of Gods light and love. The residents there all knew and loved her. Mom shared a special and caring relationship with her grandchildren Joseph, Benjamin, Michael and Daniele (Joes children).
Mom loved to travel and be outdoors. While in Boca Raton in the 1960s, we as a family loved to go to the beach, collect sea shells and take long walks on the beach. Mom also loved the Blue Ridge Mountains where her father, Dave Snyder, built two log and stone cabins by hand in his 90s. Mother loved Bible studies, country and gospel music, singing, family gatherings and was an excellent cook. She loved to have all the Family over at Christmas time to open gifts. Mom was independent in the sense of caring for herself all the years of her life. She loved to attend Second Baptist Church and all athletic and academic events involving her grandchildren.
In 2015, mom, her boys and greater family took a memorable trip to Spain, Italy and France. It was a memorable time when we as a family took a Norwegian cruise out of Spain down the Mediterranean. Mother greatly enjoyed this trip and the beautiful sights including the Amalfi Italian coastline where we participated in a specially prepared Italian lunch on the patio high on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
Our Mom was always a source of strength and light for her family and friends, and a joy to be around. She loved to be around people and was always ready to give an answer to others concerning the hope of Christ that was within her heart. Her commitment to "Right" was only exceeded by her kindness and humility.
She always gave encouragement to her children and was a woman of prayer maintaining the "Joy of the Lord" as her strength. Her faith and belief in Jesus Christ was real and positively affected others throughout her life. Lenny and Joe, her sons, and precious daughter-in-law, Torrey DiCecco (Lennys wife), and grandchildren were with her in the last few weeks of her life. She told us that she was ready to be with her Savior. Mom had wonderful nurses and caregivers who provided for her over these past weeks.
On Sunday, October 30, 2022, at about 8:00 a.m. at Mom's apartment, the hospice caregiver, Alicia, remarked to the nurse, Cecilia, "Come see this; there is a rainbow!" When Cecilia walked over, they were awestruck by the remarkable occurrence of a fall-color spectrum rainbow formed against the wall opposite of mothers bed. Within the next hour, our precious Mom breathed her last breath.
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)
Jesus said, " I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:2-3)
At 9:05 a.m. on Sunday morning, Jesus welcomed our Mom into her final homeone not made with hands. Our surviving Aunt Lee and Uncle Dave have prayed with the family over these past days and we are all thankful Mom is with her living Lord.
We Love you Mom with all our hearts and look toward to that glorious day when we will all be together again.
Your Family
Those wishing to make memorial gifts may do so to
Second Baptist Church 6400 Woodway Dr.
Houston, TX 77057. Website for giving - www.second.org