Harold Kent Crossno, 97, went peacefully into the hereafter Saturday, January 6th at the Springfield Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center. Born April 7, 1920 in Subiaco, Arkansas, he was the youngest of three children of Wallace and Vera Crossno.
Harold spent his early years in Quahana, Texas, where his father was a railroad stationmaster. The family relocated to Neosho, Missouri when Harold was in his teens, where he graduated from Neosho High School. At the outbreak of World War II, Harold was kept out of military service due to a heart murmur, and went to work for the Department of the Treasury as a manager of the Post Exchanges at Camp Crowder. He met an attractive young clerk at one of the PX’s he managed, and married Margaret Gamble in December of 1945.
Following the war, the two purchased a 40 acre farm near Monark Springs, where he built a home for their family. Harold went to work as a sales representative for the Bone Dry Shoe Company in Neosho, and traveled the United States selling some of the first steel-toed safety boots to many manufacturing plants. Three children, Vera, Robert and Charles, followed over the next seven years. The family enjoyed country life, raising cattle and keeping an extensive garden for fruits and vegetables.
In the early 1960’s, Harold was approached by the Osborn family, and became one of the first employees of what would grow into Moark, a diversified agricultural firm that specialized in the poultry and egg business. Harold managed the first chicken hatchery for Moark at Jane, Missouri, and later oversaw the construction of a modern hatching facility at Diamond, Missouri. He managed the hatchery until his retirement in the early 1980’s, and is credited with a number of innovations in the industry, including work with Heisendorf and Nelson Laboratories in the development and testing of a vaccine against coccidiosis in chickens. The number of chickens hatched by Moark during his twenty-plus years with the firm is estimated in the millions.
In his retirement, Harold sold the family farm and relocated to a home on Oak Ridge Drive in Neosho, where he indulged in his love of gardening. The home was awarded ‘Beauty Spot of the Week’ by the Neosho Chamber of Commerce on numerous occasions. He and Margaret also built a vacation home on Table Rock Lake near Eagle Rock, where he was able to pursue another passion of his, fishing. Friends and neighbors were many times the beneficiaries of his catches of Perch, Bluegill and Bass. Harold and Margaret also traveled extensively, with trips to the Black Hills of Dakota, Alaska, Washington D.C, New York, and Las Vegas. They also enjoyed numerous trips to the nearby casinos in Oklahoma and Mississippi.
Harold was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, his wife of 69 years, Margaret, and son Robert. He is survived by his daughter Vera Lopez of San Diego, California, son Charles of Springfield, Missouri, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
In the early 1960’s, Harold was approached by the Osborn family, and became one of the first employees of what would grow into Moark, a diversified agricultural firm that specialized in the poultry and egg business. Harold managed the first chicken hatchery for Moark at Jane, Missouri, and later oversaw the construction of a modern hatching facility at Diamond, Missouri. He managed the hatchery until his retirement in the early 1980’s, and is credited with a number of innovations in the industry, including work with Heisendorf and Nelson Laboratories in the development and testing of a vaccine against coccidiosis in chickens. The number of chickens hatched by Moark during his twenty-plus years with the firm is estimated in the millions.
In his retirement, Harold sold the family farm and relocated to a home on Oak Ridge Drive in Neosho, where he indulged in his love of gardening. The home was awarded ‘Beauty Spot of the Week’ by the Neosho Chamber of Commerce on numerous occasions. He and Margaret also built a vacation home on Table Rock Lake near Eagle Rock, where he was able to pursue another passion of his, fishing. Friends and neighbors were many times the beneficiaries of his catches of Perch, Bluegill and Bass. Harold and Margaret also traveled extensively, with trips to the Black Hills of Dakota, Alaska, Washington D.C, New York, and Las Vegas. They also enjoyed numerous trips to the nearby casinos in Oklahoma and Mississippi.
Harold was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, his wife of 69 years, Margaret, and son Robert. He is survived by his daughter Vera Lopez of San Diego, California, son Charles of Springfield, Missouri, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM, Saturday, January 20, 2018
Clark Chapel of Memories
312 S. Wood St. Neosho, Mo 64850
Clark Chapel of Memories
312 S. Wood St. Neosho, Mo 64850
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