Michael Ray Cross was born in Okmulgee, OK on November 19, 1944, to parents Margaret (Tribble) Cross and Samuel Ray Cross. Mike grew up in Wichita and also in Oklahoma City where he attended John Marshall High School. After graduating, he pursued his studies at Westminster College and the University of Oklahoma, earning bachelor's and master's degrees in English Literature. In the cafeteria at OU, he met Paula Bobb who would become his wife of 57 years. Mike and Paula moved to Tulsa in 1971 where they soon welcomed sons Kevin, Brian, and Stephen.
In Tulsa, Mike joined the faculty at Tulsa Community College the year after its founding. He taught courses in poetry, literature, and composition, and he edited the TCC literary journal Outside the Lines. During his 39 years at the college, he touched the lives of thousands of students, watering their creativity and pruning back their bad grammar.
Mike was a gifted poet. He had a talent for capturing the beautiful and the sacred in everyday life: light reflecting off a chrome bumper, slime trails in the garden, the dappled shade of the mulberry tree. He leaves behind a wealth of verse, including hundreds of haiku, senyru, and longer works.
"Slowly, painfully, joyfully-
I am transformed into
poems.
The man-shell left behind
might crumble
at your touch."
Mike died on Sunday, April 20, 2025, at St. Francis Hospital at the age of 80. He is survived by his wife Paula; by his sons Kevin, Brian, and Stephen; by daughters-in-law Amy and Tiffany; by grandchildren Mala, Samuel, Sophia, Sebastien, Carrick, and Connor; and by his brother Patrick. His memorial will be held at 1 pm on Saturday, May 3 at Bethany Christian Church (6730 S Sheridan Rd, Tulsa, OK) where Mike was a member for almost half a century.