Caroline Cross, who co-founded Leadership Franklin and ran the organization as its volunteer executive director for 16 years, died Nov. 1.
She was 95.
Visitation is Friday, Nov. 6, from 3 to 7 p.m. at Heritage Church of Christ, 1056 Lewisburg Pike in Franklin. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at the church. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Memorial Park.
Cross helped build Leadership Franklin into a program that brought residents from different backgrounds together to learn about the city's history, institutions and challenges, according to the Williamson Herald. The organization's graduates remain active throughout Franklin and Williamson County three decades later.
"She was a true Southern lady in all the ways that mattered," said Franklin Alderman Brandy Blanton, chair of Leadership Franklin's board, according to the Herald.
Julian Bibb, a fellow co-founder of Leadership Franklin, called Cross a mentor. He remembered both her determination to establish the organization and the convictions that guided her, the Herald reported.
Cross was born in Murfreesboro on July 16, 1931, according to her obituary. She graduated from Hillsboro High School and studied home economics at David Lipscomb College, where she taught before her marriage. In 1986, the family endowed a chair in that department in her honor.
She married James William Cross III in Heidelberg, Germany, in January 1955 while he was serving in the U.S. Army. He preceded her in death in 1993. Together they incorporated Century Construction in 1958. The company still operates under the leadership of their son, Jim Cross, and grandson Will Cross.
Her son recalled a family philosophy that shaped his mother's civic work. "This town and this community have been awfully good to us, so we have an obligation to give back to the community," Jim Cross recalled his father saying, according to the Herald.
When the founding group recognized that Leadership Franklin needed someone dedicated to getting it off the ground, Jim Cross suggested his mother take the lead, the Herald reported. She built the program and later handpicked Paula Harris as her successor, he said.
Harris, Leadership Franklin's executive director, said Cross, Bibb and the board created something that continues to make a daily impact on the community, according to the Herald.
Cross's civic involvement extended well beyond Leadership Franklin. She served as president of the Heritage Foundation, founded the first Carter House Candlelight Tour of Historic Homes in Williamson County, and served on the fundraising committee for the first YMCA in Williamson County, according to her obituary. She co-founded Heritage Church of Christ in 2003.
On Leadership Franklin's tenth anniversary, Mayor Tom Miller proclaimed Caroline Cross Day, the obituary stated. The organization also established the Caroline J. Cross Service Award in 2007.
Leadership Franklin celebrated its 30th anniversary at Bicentennial Park, where Cross was recognized multiple times, the Williamson Herald reported.
Cross is survived by her children, Amy Cross Nance and Jim Cross; grandchildren Madeline Cross Heaner, Will Cross and Whitney Nance Munn; sister Linda Ruth Jones Biggs; and five great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to Heritage Church of Christ, 1056 Lewisburg Pike, Franklin, TN 37064, or the Leadership Franklin-Caroline Cross Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 682404, Franklin, TN 37068.
