Gussie Cross Cronan, age 91, a life long resident of Benton, passed away Wednesday, March 29, 2006 in an Etowah healthcare facility. She was a member of the Pine Ridge Baptist Church. Mrs. Cronan was the daughter of the late Daniel and Sally Helton Cross and was also preceded in death by her husband, Buck Cronan and three sons, Glenn Cross, William (Snowball) Cross and Charles Lynn (Bose) Cronan. She was also preceded in death by two brothers, Floyd Cross and Clinton Cross and two sisters, Myrtle Moses and Stacy Ratcliff.

She is survived by her two children and spouses: Sally and Dewayne Bigham of Cleveland and James and Ruth Cronan of Benton; twenty-two grandchildren; nineteen great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; two sisters, Agnes Hite of Detroit, Michigan and Georgia Aberhamiem of Clair, Michigan; one brother and spouse, Jessie and Annabell Cross of Cleveland; one special friend, Lizzie Stewart and several nieces and nephews also survive.

Funeral services will be conducted at 4:00 p.m. Friday in the chapel of Higgins Funeral Home with Reverend Floyd Boggess and Reverend Earl Gentry officiating. Interment will follow in Old Ocoee Cemetery with the release a flock of white doves concluding the service.

Her family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.

We invite you to send a message of condolence and view the Cronan family guestbook at www.higginsfuneral.com.