Daniel Collins Cross

Dan passed away peacefully April 6, 2020 at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.

He was born Oct. 2, 1948 in Biloxi, Mississippi to Collins T. Cross and Mary Louise (Crockford) Cross.

Dan’s was an Air Force family of seven children.

He attended high school in Clearfield, Utah and joined the U.S. Army in 1967.

Dan was a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Division in Vietnam, earning numerous medals, including two purple hearts. He took a sniper’s round to the back during the war and was medically discharged in 1968.

Dan married Carla Knaak of Utah in 1969. They later divorced. They had two daughters, Carrie Ann (Cross) Mosiello of Temecula, California and Heather Danielle Cross of Eugene, Oregon.

Dan earned an associate’s degree in Layton, Utah and worked civil service at Hill Air Force base in Utah for 17 years.

His hobbies were fishing, hunting, and, most of all, sports. Dan coached and traveled with his men’s softball team and also played wheelchair basketball.

He took an early retirement in 1993. Shortly thereafter, Dan married Diane (Vanderhoof) Cross of Beaufort, South Carolina.

Dan and Diane traveled the country for several years in a motorhome. Then they became snowbirds, splitting their time between Essex and Salome, Arizona.

Dan was active with his RV Park family, cooking and coordinating dinners and other activities. He enjoyed the sunshine, reading, friends and Facebook.

Dan was a true hero in his service to his country and in giving himself to family, friends, and worthy causes. He spent over 50 years in a wheelchair and battling other health challenges, yet he was always grateful for the blessings in his life,

Dan is survived by his loving wife, Diane, daughters Carrie (Matt) and Heather (Jon) and five grandchildren, Nick, Tyler, Andrew, Luke, and Madison, also siblings Kathleen, Ron, John, Gemma, and David.

Dan was preceded in death by his parents, a niece and an older sister, Gloria.

A celebration of life was held in Ogden, Utah.

Other services are to be held later next month in Columbia Falls.