Donald “Don” David Cross, 81, of rural Newton, died Sunday, Mar. 9, 2025, at MercyOne Newton Medical Center. A funeral service was held at 1 p.m., Friday, Mar. 14, at Wallace Family Funeral Home and Crematory in Newton. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Aiming For A Cure or Outdoors Without Boundaries may be left at the funeral home.
Don, the son of Delwin and Lucille (Emmack) Cross, was born Dec. 12, 1943, in Colfax. As a child, he lived in Colfax and Prairie City, before moving to the Sully area; graduating from Lynnville-Sully High School in 1962. Aug. 7, 1964, Don was united in marriage with Janice Jansen. They made their home in rural Killduff before moving to their current home in rural Newton. After high school, Don worked as a surveyor for Jasper County. In 1966, he bought in with his dad’s business and that began Cross and Son Implement in Killduff. Later, his brother Marty would also joined the business. At one point, Don was the youngest Allis-Chalmers dealership owner in Iowa. In 2006, he sold his portion of the business and began enjoying his retirement.
Through the years, Don and Janice were very active in Richland Grange and loved to go dancing at the Moose. With the Grange, Don served as Grange Master and Steward of the State of Iowa Grange, and Don and Janice were honored as Couple of the Year in the mid-1960s. Don also was a member of the Jasper County Sheep Producers Association and showed Suffolk sheep at the Iowa State Fair for many years. In his free time, Don loved to hunt and fish. Through his membership in NAVHDA (North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association), Don enjoyed training many, many hunting dogs.
Don is survived by his wife Janice Cross of rural Newton; his daughter Deb (Jeff) Smith of Ames; his grandchildren Tausha (Mike) Tjernagel, Caitlin (Adam) Coates, Dylan Cross, and Garret Cross; his three great-grandchildren Addison, Zoey, and Oliver with one more great-grandchild on the way; siblings Gary Cross of St. Cloud, MN, Marty (Deb) Cross of Newton, Imy (Charlie) Bruce of Newton, and Mickey Van Baale of Newton; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his son Daniel Cross.
