Gladys Irene Cross

Gladys was born April 4, 1924, the daughter of Andy and Mabel Eslinger. Her childhood was spent on the family farm near Lincoln, Kansas, with three brothers and a sister. After graduation from Lincoln High School in 1942, she began teaching grades 1-8 in the one-room country schools at Round Springs and Shiloh. She attended college at Fort Hays State, Hays, Kansas.

After marriage to Neil Cross in 1947, they moved to Wichita in 1950. Their family grew to include three children, Leanna, Naomi, and Larry. Her role as homemaker was centered on her husband and children. She was a long-time member of First Bible Baptist Church and later Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita. After the children left home, she devoted her time and energy to service in the church in the choir and as a leader of the women’s ministry, children’s ministries, senior ministries, and mission work, particularly at the Navajo Indian Reservation in Utah where she and Neil helped to build a church and care for the people. Gladys’s life was focused on her faith and family. She utilized her organizational ability as she worked tirelessly in the various roles she held at her church. Neil and Gladys celebrated 60 years of marriage before his death in 2009. Gladys ended her earthly journey on September 5, 2015, when she departed for her heavenly home.

Preceding her in death were her parents, two brothers, and a sister. A brother, Everett Eslinger, survives. Gladys leaves a daughter and son-in-law, Dick and Leanna Trim, Shawnee, Oklahoma; a daughter and son-in-law, Doug and Naomi Kutilek, Clearwater, Kansas; and a son and daughter-in-law, Larry and Lucinda Cross, Wichita, Kansas. She leaves seven grandchildren, their spouses, and 21 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be held from 12-1 p.m. Tuesday, September 8, with Memorial Service following at 1:00 p.m. , at DeVorss Flanagan-Hunt Mortuary, Wichita, with Doug Kutilek officiating. Internment at Round Springs Cemetery, Mitchell County, Kansas, at 11:00 a.m. Friday, September 11.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Immanuel Baptist Church Mission Fund, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita, Kansas 67211.

Arrangements under the direction of Devorss Flanagan-Hunt Mortuary, Wichita, KS.