January 23, 2011

Marion Austin “Mac” Cross Jr., 94, died Jan. 23, 2011. A native of Suffolk, he was a son of the late Evelyn H. and Marion Austin Cross Sr. and was predeceased by a sister, Mary Evelyn Cross Hayes, and a brother, Joseph Milton Cross. Mac served in the U.S. Navy in World War II. He was retired as president of Nansemond Grocery Co.

Mac received degrees from both MIT and Randolph-Macon College. In 1938, he worked the Richmond District for VEPCO in the System Engineering Department and Commercial Engineering. On March 1, 1942, he was assigned to the Plant Shops Superintendent Department in Portsmouth. In December 1942, he transferred to the Norfolk Naval Operating Station and in 1943 to the Berkley Ship Yard Group. In December 1944, Mac was transferred to Pearl Harbor as Naval Yard Electrical Ship Superintendent. Pearl Harbor was his second tour as commanding officer of a Floating Power Plant, the JACONA. In 1946, he returned to Suffolk serving as secretary and vice president and later president of Nansemond Grocery Co. Mac was a former Rotarian and a lifelong member of Main Street United Methodist Church.

Survivors include a sister, Emily Cross Jones, of St. Augustine, Fla., and two brothers, J. Frank Cross, of Suffolk, and Wilbur Rawles Cross, of Winston-Salem, N.C.; and several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be conducted Thursday at 2 p.m. at the graveside in Cedar Hill Cemetery by the Rev. Robert J. Parks. Memorial donations may be made to Main Street United Methodist Church, 202 N. Main St., Suffolk, VA 23434. Condolences may be registered at www.rwbaker.com.