Aubrey Emuel Cross, Sr.

The family of Aubrey Emuel Cross Sr. welcomes the Hephzibah, Augusta and surrounding communities to a service at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 1 at Hephzibah Baptist Church to honor the life of our dad. The church is located on Georgia Highway 88 in Hephzibah, where his nine children grew up. Longtime friends and former Hephzibah Baptist pastor O. Ted Page and wife Sue Page of Statesboro will assist.

Born on Feb. 15, 1915 to Dick and Maude Cross in Ardmore, Tenn., Mr. Cross died on March 13, 2010 after a brief illness. He was 95, and had lived in Evans for 12 years.

He was well-known in business in Augusta from the 1940s through the 1970s.

He was married for 58 years to the late Martha Wayne Mitchiner Cross of Benevolence, Ga., author of the book titled, “A Rose of Picardy.”

He was chairman of the committee that built the present Hephzibah Baptist facility, beginning when the church met in the historic wood-frame building that was located on the grounds that once joined the old Hephzibah high school.

He grew up on a farm in Ardmore and is predeceased by his brother Alton.

He studied pre-law at the University of Tennessee in the 1930s. He managed various stores in several states for Goodyear and for Firestone tire and rubber companies. In 1949 he began a career with Henry Darling Chevrolet in Augusta, which later became Harrison-Gully Chevrolet, and which he managed for 25 years. His business acumen and executive style resulted in the dealership becoming the largest volume dealer at the time in East Georgia. He served on various bank boards and commissions, including chairmanship of the initiatives in the early 1970s to consolidate Augusta and Richmond County. He led the initiative to build the original football stadium for Hephzibah high school, which all of the children attended. He was a lifelong Mason. He retired at age 59, and he and Martha returned to his old home place in Ardmore. They later moved to Fayetteville, Tenn., where they lived until her death in 1997.

His remains will be scattered by the family at a later date near his Tennessee home, in keeping with his wishes.

He is survived by all nine children: Ann Ellsworth of Orange, Calif.; Aubrey Jr. of Sarasota, Fla.; Frances Elizabeth of Huntsville, Alabama; Richard of Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Mary of Livingston, Montana; David of Cayce, South Carolina; Daniel of Augusta; Ruth Miller of North Charleston, South Carolina; and Esther Gifford of Portsmouth, Va.

He is predeceased by one grandson, and survived by 18 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren.
The family will receive guests in the fellowship hall of the church at 10 a.m. before the service.