Rev. Kenneth Crossman

Family-Placed Funeral Notice

Rev. KENNETH CROSSMAN Religious Leader and Activist Rev. Kenneth Charles Crossman, 71, of Orlando, boasted a resume that is both varied and challenging. After serving in the military, Crossman joined the cosmetics giant Yardley of London as a sales executive. He was a master, and ranked as one of Yardley's top ten sales executives for five years. But the Lord had a higher calling for Crossman. With a BA Degree from Wabash College, Crossman attended Harvard Business School in 1955 and the, a decade later, earned his Master of Divinity Degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. He embarked on a lifetime career in His service, first at Park Temple United Methodist Church, where he was Associate Pastor from 1968-70, then to Specialized Urban Ministries in Broward County, where he was Founding Executive Director from 1970-77. By then, he was just getting started. He served as pastor at Broadway United Methodist Church in downtown Orlando from 1977-81, then senior pastor at St. Paul's United Methodist Church until 1987, when he was called to First United Methodist Church, which became the United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches. He served two-year missions as senior pastor at Lakewood United Methodist Church in 1989-90, Community United Methodist Church in 1990-93 and First United Methodist Church in Deltona in 1993 until his retirement in 1995. That's when he really started to work hard. He had always been active, of course, filling in every spare moment with additional responsibilities. At one time Crossman said, "When I see a task, my mind immediately starts working on ways to do it." "I had numerous occasions to call on Ken in a volunteer capacity – he served Orlando well and will be missed," said Orlando Mayor Emeritus Bill Frederick. At the Florida United Methodist Conference, he chaired the United Methodist Committee on Disaster Relief in the late 1970s and served on the TV and Radio Task Force in the 1980s, producing more than two dozen, thirty-second public service announcements that many, many Central Floridians still remember. At Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, he served as president of the Lay/Clergy Advisory Committee through the mid-1990s and vice-chair of the Religion & Race committee. "When I retired, I found I had all this time to do things," Crossman said. That includes membership in Bridgebuilders of Winter Park, the UMC Committee on Religion and Race, Bethune-Cookman College Lay/Clergy Advisory Board, which he chaired, and pulpit supply to impoverished ministries; he averaged ten per year. The media was a second home for Ken. In Melbourne, West Palm Beach and Jacksonville he hosted weekly local church TV interview programs and participated in national TV broadcasts. He founded Rebuild Foundation, Inc. to empower people with low-income housing, and stayed active with Broward County Legal Aid Board, Orlando Center City Ministries, Habitat for Humanity and the Volusia Medical Center Advisory Board. Pastor Randall James of Orlando said, "Rev. Crossman was a spiritual giant in our community – one of the greatest prayer warriors I have ever known. Only in heaven will we know the full number of people he has impacted for Christ." In his spare time, he put his Yardley experience to good use collecting Yardley of London antiques. He was a member of the Perfume Bottle Association and frequently publishes articles on his subject in antique and trade magazines. He also established his own web site, www.sermonlisteningexchange.org , which features 32 pastors and more than 200 sermons. The former football star, a four-year varsity letterman at Wabash College, was also a member of Who's Who in the South and Southeast. "Ken Crossman was a man of strong faith and one of the most compassionate people I've ever met," Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty recently said. He once told one of his sons, "I live a rich, abundant and full life, I am blessed by the Lord with the ability to do many things, and we all know there are so many things that need to be done." Rev. Crossman is survived by his wife, Cecily; four children: Cathy Curtis, Scott Crossman, Sarah Crossman Sullivan and John Crossman; and seven grandchildren. Memorial service will be held Friday, September 10, 10 AM at First United Methodist Church, Winter Park; (407) 644-2906. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested consideration of a donation to Bethune-Cookman College Scholarship Fund, c/o Crossman & Company, 2464 East Michigan Street, Orlando, FL 32806.