Debra Cross 9/6/57 - 11/12/10

Cancer victim loses battle
Originally published November 16, 2010

By Megan Eckstein

Debra Cross, the ex-wife of local activist Randy White, died Friday morning after battling stage four renal cell carcinoma for months.  
Cross was born Sept. 6, 1957, and graduated from Frederick High School, according to her Facebook page. She married White and raised three children in Frederick: Kristen White-Hernandez, Angie Pieper and Brandon White. When she and Randy White divorced, Cross stayed in Frederick to raise her three children. She married Eric Cross and once her children grew up, the couple moved to Ocala, Fla.

In 2008, White-Hernandez died of a brain tumor. Earlier this year, Cross was diagnosed with cancer. Family doctors in Florida told White his daughter's and ex-wife's cancers were both likely caused by environmental exposures and at that point he launched his Fighting for Frederick campaign to prove Fort Detrick contaminated nearby water and soil and caused the illness in his family.
Cross attended a Fighting for Frederick town hall meeting in July but, despite being half the reason the group formed, was not active with the group. In several public meetings, White said Cross' health had seriously declined in the past few months and went to a hospice in Florida.

Cross' family will receive visitors at Stauffer Funeral Home, 1621 Opossumtown Pike in Frederick. Guests are invited from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday.

Funeral services will be held at noon Friday at the Maranatha Community Church, 123 Byte Drive in Frederick.
Cross will be buried next to her daughter, Kristen at Resthaven Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Kristen Renee Foundation online or mailed to PO Box 20914 Tampa, FL 33622