Gene “Bud” Bryant Cross passed away on October 10, 2021, in Provo, Utah. He was 87 years of age.

Born January 17, 1934, in Boise, Idaho to Arnold Frank and Leila “Dearie” Pearl Cross. He was reared in Twin Falls, Idaho, and attended Twin Falls High School where he was a member of the football, basketball, and track teams. Their high school football team won the state championship. Upon graduation from high school, he attended the University of Utah qualifying for a football scholarship and a Navy scholarship.

He met Anita Bills on a blind date while attending a friend’s wedding in Salmon, Idaho. “I had always wondered how you would know when you had met the right person and fall in love. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be away from her. When I was with her, I felt a fullness and a peace that I had never felt before.” He married Anita on January 6th, 1956.

His love for Anita, his family, and his Savior grew as he was baptized by Anita’s father, Lawrence J. Bills, on January 4, 1957, in Long Beach, California. He shared his love for sports, hunting, fishing, horseback riding, travel, education, and service in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with his family. Professionally he worked in administration for the University of Utah, University of Delaware, Kansas State University, Columbia University, and retired from the University of California at Berkley. He served as a Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Faithfully he served as a bishop, Cleveland Ohio Mission President, Pacific Area Welfare Representative, MTC District President, and temple worker.

“I have been blessed beyond measure, beyond anything that I ever could even imagined or conceived.”

He regularly and openly shared his testimony of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. He wrote and invited everyone to read “The Three Greatest Questions of Life”.

He is survived by his seven children, Rod Cross, Greg Cross, Debbie Harvey, Teresa Langdon, Dan Cross, Tim Cross, and Angie Pippin; 35 grandchildren; and 67 great-grandchildren.

Photos, stories, and his personal life history are shared on FamilySearch.

Funeral services will be conducted Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, at 10:30 AM at 2400 North 1060 East, Provo, Utah. Interment will be in the Provo City Cemetery, Provo, Utah.

The funeral service will be broadcast via zoom: https://zoom.us/j/94806640891

In lieu of flowers, he requested contributions be made to the Perpetual Education Fund.