Ellen Gail Cross

Ellen Gail Cross (GAIL) died peacefully at Cates Hospice house in Ocala, Florida on June 3, 2023.

Gail was born in Winter Haven, Florida on June 20, 1945, to Freemont and Elva Stanley. Gail’s father was a career army officer, and Gail’s family lived in various places throughout the world during her childhood, including Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and twice in Germany during her father’s tours of duty there.

Gail attended college at Duke University, where she met Scott—her husband of 53 years—and graduated with a BA degree in English. She then obtained a master’s degree in teaching from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and taught middle school while her husband was stationed at the Naval Air Test Center in Patuxent River, Maryland. Gail returned to Florida and earned her doctorate in counselor education from the University of Florida while her husband was overseas with the Navy.

The couple settled in Ocala, Florida where they raised their two children Ellen and Eric. Gail loved her community and served two terms as the first woman elected to the Marion County Board of County Commissioners. She followed that service by acting as volunteer chairperson of the county’s United Way fundraising campaign. Gail was then selected to lead Marion County Senior Services as its executive director and filled that role from 1996 until her retirement in 2009, during which time she successfully wrote a grant that enabled the construction of Marion Senior Services’ new facility which was named in her honor. Despite those accomplishments, Gail was proudest of her work as a volunteer with Ocala’s Interfaith Emergency Services in the years following her retirement, and she wore her Interfaith volunteer T-shirts everywhere with joy.

Gail was chosen to receive Interfaith’s Legacy of Love award in 2018 for dedicated service to her community. She was a member of Christ the King Anglican Church in Ocala.

Gail cherished her children, and she loved spending time with her grandchildren in North Carolina and Massachusetts as often as possible. Gail enjoyed fishing with her husband on their boat. She was an avid reader and came to love the special group of friends making up the book club she attended monthly. Gail also designed her house which was built in 1992 in which she lived with her family until her death.

Gail is survived by her husband Scott; son Eric Cross (Brittany); daughter Ellen Feeney (Dan); grandchildren Scotty and Emily Feeney, and Annabel Cross; brother-in-law Mike Rossi; nephew Chris Rossi and niece Karen Pickup; nephews Greg and David Hughes; and her beloved sister-in-law Cheryl Cross and Cheryl’s children Kim and Stephanie. She was preceded in death by her parents and both her sisters Marsha Rossi and Judy Gosling.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Marion Senior Services or Interfaith Emergency Services in Ocala, Florida.

Gail’s funeral service will be held at Christ the King Anglican Church, 4440 SE 3rd Avenue, Ocala, Florida 34480 at 11:00AM on June 17, 2023.