Toni Cross 1955 - 2026

Toni Cross grew up in the Bootheel of Missouri, attended college in Memphis, did graduate work in Missoula, Montana, received her MFA in Theater, packed a U-Haul trailer with her worldly goods, and set out for Seattle, Washington, to make her mark on the world.

She worked for many years in the burgeoning theater scene there in the 1980s, meeting her eventual husband doing a show. Subsequently, she decided to switch careers and go into landscaping. She created her own business: Seasonal Color Pots, designing and installing container gardens: “beauty in small places” being her guiding principle.

Upon retiring, she faced the medical reality of a previously unknown spinal degeneration caused by a car accident 30 years earlier. To try to make the most of whatever good years were left, she and her husband looked for a place that could offer community, opportunity for personal growth, and a sense that is was still possible to embark on a Grand Adventure. They hit the jackpot with McMinnville, Oregon. In the year she was here, she volunteered at the Soup Kitchen at St. Barnabas, joined two choirs (despite saying, “I’m not even sure I can sing--I just always wanted to be in a choir”), became a member of the McMinnville Garden Club, was in a crafting group, and served as a crosswalk guard during the Democracy Rallies by the library.

A staph infection, pneumonia, and the old spine condition combined to bring her down. She used her favorite deathbed exit line, Oscar Wilde’s “Either that wallpaper goes, or I go,” and then faced the end with great courage, determination, and fortitude. May we all do so.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Henderson House.

Updated Memorial Service information will be posted on Macy & Son’s website (www.macyandson.com) when it becomes available.