Theresa Ann Cross was born February 16, 1954 to Ray and Martha Reyes. Theresa was born in Santa Fe Springs, California and moved to Brea, CA when she was 14. Theresa attended a private catholic school, St. Pius the 10th, 1st through 8th grade and Sonora high school where she performed on the dance team known as the “drill team”. She came to Jamestown, ND to attend Jamestown College where she was an amazing athlete and played volleyball and basketball. She was also the girls ping pong champion and no one could beat her (including Phil.)
Theresa met Phil at Jamestown College and after enough nagging from him, Theresa agreed to go out on a date with him. For their first date, they went to the homecoming football game on Phil’s birthday (September 20). Theresa and Phil were married January 31, 1975 in Jamestown at St. James Catholic Church. Together they had four sons, Marques, Paul, Kellen, and Justin.
Theresa was a gift to everyone in her life. She loved meeting new people and could talk to anyone but also was always willing to lend a listening ear. She enjoyed watching and playing sports. She played co-ed softball until she was 55, coached soccer, and played in pool, dart, and bowling leagues. Her favorite sports team was the Dodgers. Theresa could also cook! Some of her favorites included enchiladas, homemade stuffing, and pumpkin cheesecake. Theresa loved elephants and she had quite the collection. She even got a Dumbo tattoo when her friend Morgan finally convinced her to do it. At Christmas time, you would find Theresa’s house covered from top to bottom in Christmas décor. She loved to decorate for Christmas and loved snowmen. Gift giving was her love language. Her gifts were always thoughtful and she always liked to give the grandkids little gifts and so much candy! Theresa’s grandchildren meant the world to her. Grandma T was one of the very best grandmas! To the very end, Theresa was self-less and always puts others’ needs before her own. She was quite simply an amazing human being.
In September 2023, Theresa found out she had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. She remained so strong with such a positive attitude throughout her intense chemotherapy treatments. The last couple of months Theresa started to have medical issues related to the cancer and treatment and ultimately succumbed to these complications.
Family members that were able to share Theresa’s life with her include her husband of almost 50 years, Phil; brothers Richard (Alice) Reyes, Frederick Reyes, Armando (Margie) Reyes, John (Cindy) Reyes, Tom (Carrie) Reyes, Mark (Jill) Reyes and “sister” Becky (Gary) Coyne; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Peggy (the late Claude) Cross-Prather, Paul Cross, Pamela Cross, Loretta Cross, James “Leo” Cross, and Donna (Andre) Clay. She had 14 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Ray and Martha, and brothers Fred and Richard.
Funeral Service – 2:00 p.m., Friday, September 20, 2024 at Eddy Funeral Home, Jamestown.