Richard (Dick) Lee Cross age 59 passed away in his sleep Sunday night November 19^th at his home in Mountain View, CA from a sudden heart attack.  Services will be held at the Grogan Funeral Home in Polson on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 3:00 pm, with interment to follow at Lakeview Cemetery.  Dick was a gifted athlete both in high school and in college.  He was an incredibly kind and caring man to his family, his friends, and his cousins and especially to their children.  He particularly enjoyed sharing his love for books and knowledge with all of them.  He will be greatly missed here on earth, but will be a huge asset to the Lord if complex math problems arise.

   Born in Missoula, Montana on July 16, 1947, Dick was raised on Camas Prairie, Montana where he attended Camas Prairie Elementary and then High School in Hot Springs, Montana.  He began his higher education at Montana State University before transferring to the University of Washington where he received his first Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering.  Dick went on to receive a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Santa Clara University and a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University where he was a member of Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society.  As a firm believer in life-long education, Dick was continuing to work towards his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Stanford when time allowed.

   Dick joined the Air Force in 1970 where he served primarily as an aeronautical engineer and received several Commendations during his four years in the service.  He then went on to a life-long career in the field he loved and excelled at, Aerospace Engineering.  He worked for 15 years at United Technologies Corporation and another 21 years at Lockheed Martin Aerospace Corporation.  During those years he worked on countless projects including single-handedly developing control concepts for Variable Flow Ducted Rockets, and leading the analysis team on the Titan IV rocket project.  One of the accomplishments he was most proud of, however, was his work on the Hubble Space Telescope, on which he designed many of the directional control systems.

   His hobbies included studying engines, airplanes and spacecraft, and he loved to study both military history and world history.  His periodic travels were a means to continue to further his education, and over the years traveled to countless castles and cathedrals in Europe with his son, he view the 900 year-old Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and he walked in the Lascaux Caves among the 17,000 year old Lascaux paintings.

   Dick was preceded in death by both his grandparents, his father, Herb Cross and by is Uncles Sid and Gordon Cross.  He is survived by his mother Mary, his brothers Wayne, Rodney and Wesley, his son and daughter-in-law Herb and Lisa, Herb’s mother Andrea, his beloved pet cat Razz, and by numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles.