Mary “Ann” Kross, 85, of East Haven, passed away June 26 at Yale New Haven Hospital. She was born on Oct. 30, 1937, in Waterbury to Frank and Geraldine (Kirby) Magnuson.

Ann is survived by her son, Ken Kross (Denise Kross) of Upland, California, and a daughter, Kathryn Kross (Tom LeBrun) of Washington, D.C. In addition, she leaves three grandchildren, Taylor Kross and Jeff Kross of Upland, California, and Vivian LeBrun-Benesch of Washington, D.C. Ann is preceded in death by her parents and husband of 62 years, Richard “Dick” Kross (2020).

Ann grew up in the Oakville section of Watertown, where her father Frank (“Fritjof” in his native Sweden) owned a grocery store. In summers, neighborhood boys would huddle around Frank’s radio in the back of the store, listening to the play-by-play of Yankees and Red Sox games. One of those boys was “Richie” Kross, the son of Lithuanian immigrants, who would become a star athlete in high school and college and, eventually, Ann’s husband. If Ann was telling this story, she might say that her marriage to Richard was when her life took shape. They moved to East Haven, where Richard led the Parks and Recreation Department. They set up a home in Foxon, raising their two children on a winding street with towering oak trees, back when kids and dogs were free range. Summers were filled with baseball and softball games, eventually tennis, swimming pools, barbecues, and bicycles. If it sounds idyllic, it was. Ann tried to make it that way.

Ann was the mother who welcomed every new friend, who made the chocolate chip cookies, who took in the stray pets, who orchestrated the family dinners, and was, miraculously, never late for pickups. As her children grew, she developed an interior design business, opening her own shop in the center of East Haven with her friend Diane and later forming a partnership with Carol. Her home, a ’60s ranch house unremarkable from the street, was radiant inside. She and Richard spent vacations in California and Washington, D.C., where their children settled. They became devotees of UConn women’s basketball, critiquing games with their dear friends Carol and John and assessing players like WNBA scouts. Ann wasn’t above bold interpretations of reality. She would swear she had cut down on sweets, despite the half-full box of Hershey bars tucked in the kitchen drawer. She said she was grateful for the cameras her daughter installed throughout the house as a safety measure, yet promptly disconnected the ones she thought were intrusive.

Underneath her kind demeanor, she could be devilishly stubborn. When Richard died in 2020, Ann faced the most difficult challenge of her life: living without her partner of 62 years. Despite her grief, she always greeted people with her signature optimism, and they became her lifelines in a new world. Nan, her “adopted daughter” Judy, Ralph, and Shirley, her cousin Ines and “adopted grandchildren” Julianna and Thomas. She reconnected with old friends like Jeanne and Holly and made new friends like Dot. She was sustained by daily calls from her granddaughter Taylor, who delighted her endlessly. As a friend or a relative of Ann’s, you had her full attention. And that might be Ann’s greatest gift. If love is the quality of attention one pays to things, Ann paid supreme attention. Her family and her friends will forever benefit.

Family and friends were invited to meet and attend a Mass of Christian burial on June 30 at St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parish at the Church of Our Lady of Pompeii Catholic Church, 355 Foxon Rd., (Route 80) East Haven, with committal following at All Saints Cemetery, North Haven. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Connecticut Audubon Society to honor Ann’s enjoyment of the birds and wildlife that surrounded her home.