Kate Cross Das

1951 - 2021

Kate Cross Das passed away peacefully on Monday, May 10, 2021, the day after the Mother's Day, at Legacy Village assisted living/nursing care facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, located near her son Sunit Das' family. She was about one month shy of her 70th birthday and was suffering from exacerbated COPD. She was the loving wife of Dr. Deben K. Das, professor of engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
She was born July 1, 1951, in Beverly, Massachusetts, to the late Theresa Katherine Moran and Bertrand Champlin Cross. Kate was a woman of immense kindness, a poet, an artist, a loving mother and wife, who devoted a major part of her life advocating for the people affected by mental illness.
Kate attended elementary and middle school in Wallingford, Connecticut, and moved to Amherst, Massachusetts, due to her dad's job and graduated from Amherst Regional High School in 1969. Following her graduation, she completed her freshman year at Manhattanville College in New York. Later she attended Greenfield Community College in Massachusetts and Bryant College in Rhode Island as a part time student to prepare for a career in nursing or medicine. She met her future husband, Debendra Kumar Das, in 1975. Deben, originally from India, had graduated with a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Brown University and was a resident at the International House of Rhode Island where they met on the Brown campus. They fell in love and in the following year, 1976, Kate joined Rhode Island College as an English major for her bachelor's degree.
In 1978 Kate and Deben married and enjoyed a unique opportunity of three wedding ceremonies. The first one was on July 1 in a Catholic ceremony in Wallingford, Connecticut, where Kate's parents lived. The second one was on July 8 in a Hindu temple in Queens, New York, for Deben's Indian relatives and friends in America. And the third one took place in December 1978 in Orissa, India, at the ancestral home of Deben for his family, relatives and friends in India.
Because of her good writing ability, Kate rose to the rank of editor of the Rhode Island College student newspaper, Anchor. She earned her BA degree in 1979 with cum laude. She was pregnant when she crossed the stage during her commencement ceremony at Rhode Island College, and soon in September 1979 their son Sunit was born.
Kate and Deben lived on the campus of University of Rhode Island in Kingston from 1978 where Deben was pursuing his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering. Kate joined in her M. A. program in English literature at the University of Rhode Island in 1980 with an appointment as a teaching assistant in the English Department teaching undergraduate students. She truly enjoyed her teaching assignments, and the students evaluated her as a good teacher. As ill luck would have it, she experienced mental health problems unexpectedly in 1981 and took a leave of absence from graduate study. She devoted her time to son, Sunit, and family and started being involved in arts. Kate moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1983 when Deben joined as a research engineer at US Navy Lab upon completion of his doctoral degree.
In August 1984 Kate, Deben and Sunit moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, where Deben accepted a position as assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
In 1985 Kate defended her master's thesis, which was on hold at the University of Rhode Island by leave of absence due to her health problem. She received her MA degree in English literature from the University of Rhode Island in the 1986 commencement ceremony. From 1981 Kate had struggled with manic depressive bipolar illness. Therefore, at the advice of her physician she began to be engaged in volunteer work in the community on activities of her liking. She had love for poetry, art, reading and writing and wished to teach these to people with mental illness as therapeutic subjects. She began her volunteer service at the Denali Center in Fairbanks helping the elderly in early 1990. Finally, she chose Fairbanks Alliance for the Mentally Ill (FAMI) in 1996, because of her passion to help people suffering from mental illness.
Having experienced serious mental health issues, Kate was dedicated to improving the lives of people and families affected by mental illness. In the beginning phase, she was accompanying the president of FAMI to state capital Juneau to testify in front of the governor, senators and legislators to plead for adequate funding to support the needs of mentally ill in Fairbanks and Interior Alaska. Because of Kate's articulate, knowledgeable, clear and convincing presentations to legislators, the then-FAMI president used to designate Kate as the "poster child" for advocating and pleading for mental health funding.
The FAMI later became NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and Kate rose from the volunteer position to become office manager (1996-2002), newsletter editor (1998-2008), member at large of the NAMI Fairbanks board (2008), vice president (2009 and 2010) and finally president (2011 and 2012). Being a good writer, she guided the newsletter as the editor to educate the families, mental health consumers, policy makers and legislators on the valuable roles of NAMI Fairbanks. Being an avid artist, she organized art shows at Noel Wein Library, UAF Music Department and library, and the Wood Center through large display cases by showing art produced by mental health consumers. Her efforts inspired and exhibited the talents of NAMI members. She guided NAMI members in beautifying the candlelight vigil once a year. Her contributions to NAMI in terms of arts included paintings, handicrafts, NAMI art calendar, NAMI cookbook, greeting cards, fiber arts, jewelries and quilts; which she gifted to NAMI Fairbanks silent auction for raising funds.
In her leadership role at the NAMI board level, Kate offered education to legislators, policy makers and public against the stigma attached to mental illness. She advocated for the needy having had the firsthand experience of mental illness. She facilitated family support meetings offering support to families and consumers. Because of her compassionate and loving approach, the mental health consumers and their families felt at ease and welcomed at NAMI office when they came for help. These were all voluntary services, pure labor of love.
On her family front, Kate was an excellent mother and wife, who showed examples of compassion, love and fairness. She taught poetry, art, literature, politics and international affairs to her son, Sunit, and husband, Deben. She will be sorely missed.
Kate is survived by her husband, Deben, of Fairbanks; son, Sunit; daughter-in-law, Michelle; granddaughter, Supriya of Salt Lake City; younger brother, David B. Cross and his children, Julia and Ethan of Maine; and younger sister, Lauren E. Cross of Virginia. Kate is preceded in death by her parents.
A family visitation was held at Starks Funeral Parlor on May 13, 2021, followed by cremation at the Utah Funeral Directors Cremation Center. A celebration of life for Ms. Katherine (Kate) Anne Cross-Das will be held in Fairbanks in the summer of 2022.
Kate was highly supportive of the education of people affected by mental illness. Therefore, she was instrumental in the creation of scholarships through NAMI Fairbanks at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for students touched by mental illness or those students dedicated to serve the mentally ill. Memorial contributions may be made for scholarships by sending checks to NAMI Fairbanks at PO Box 72543, Fairbanks, AK, 99707.