DANIEL BRUCE CROSBY

     Dan was born in 1962 and raised in the great state of Alaska. For the first few years after his birth, the family lived in the suburbs of Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska. When he was 10 years old the family moved to an area some 45 miles north of Anchorage, into the lower Matanuska Valley not far from where his mother grew up.
     Shortly before he turned 14, the family moved out of Alaska in the summer of 1976, to an apple orchard located in the Wenatchee Valley, in Central Washington State, East of the Cascade Mountains. The area East of the Cascades of Washington State is considered to be the hot/dry area, whereas the West Side of the mountains is subject to the heavy rainfall and cooler weather.
     Dan grew to adulthood on the family orchard. He adapted well to the local Junior and Senior High School environments, and graduated with honors (Class Valedictorian) in 1980, from Eastmont High School. Along the way he dabbled in amateur photography (owned his own camera), amateur astronomy (owned his own telescope), computers (his initial computing experience was on a TRS-80), and classical music (as a flutist and oboist) with the Wenatchee Youth Symphony Orchestra.
     After graduation from High School Dan enrolled in the University of Washington, located in Seattle in September 1980. From 1980-1985, he worked towards his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration, with emphasis in Finance and Marketing. Simultaneously, he also worked for a local restaurant corporation, where he had the opportunity to put his skills and talents to work in developing various marketing programs and promotions. It was a good experience, even if the hours were long, and the pay lousy. But soon after he graduated in June 1985, he was laid off, and forced to find work elsewhere.
     After graduation from the University of Washington, Dan decided to take some time off, worked some odd jobs, travel a bit, and eventually as he puts it, "got my butt in gear, and got a real job". In May 1986, he was introduced to a local Seattle company via work obtained through a temporary employment service, Crowley Marine Services, with roots in the San Francisco Bay area. The company was involved primarily in tug and barge operations. As he puts it, "Funds were running tight, so I was open to just about anything at that time".
     Shortly thereafter Dan was offered a permanent position with Crowley Marine Services, and quickly moved up through the accounting ranks within that Company. By 1993 he had attained the position of Senior Accountant, with the Financial Reporting group. Here, he had the opportunity to really stretch his legs, getting involved with all sorts of interesting projects, some of which required advance computer techniques, including Programming. Many of these projects included travel, and during his stay with Crowley through the end of 1998, he had traveled to the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, Jacksonville FL, and Maturin, Venezuela.
     Towards the end of 1998, Dan got some rather distressing, but at the same time, exciting news - all finance functions, then being handled by Crowley Marine Services’ offices in Seattle, were being transferred to the parent company offices of Crowley Maritime Corporation in Jacksonville, FL. This meant that he had two choices; he could take his severance and stay in Seattle to find other work, or continue his career path with the Company and relocate to Florida. He states that interestingly enough, had the news been made in the summer months, he would have been hard-pressed to leave Seattle. But, since the official announcement was made in late October (the start of the Gloom Months in Seattle), he found the decision to be an easier one.
     After eighteen years in Seattle, Dan found himself pulling up roots, saying his farewells to family, friends, and colleagues, packing his truck, and heading east to the Sunshine State. His relocation activities were accomplished between Christmas 1998 and New Years 1999.
     Once Dan had moved into his new home in JAX (Jacksonville) and finally settled in, he figured he is ready to get out and explore all that Florida has to offer. With his heavy work schedule he did manage some, but not near as much as he would have liked. He had spent many years discovering the wonders and delights of Washington State and other areas of the Northwest, but hopes he will have the opportunity to do the same in Florida.
     Dan really put down roots in Florida, with the purchase of his first home, a Condominium in another area of Jacksonville, not far from where he first settled. He spent the 2000 Christmas Holiday Season moving in and decorating his new acquisition. He figured it was the best Christmas present he could have given himself! We, his parents are looking forward to seeing his new home as soon as we can manage to travel in that direction.

Web Site Owners’ Note:

     Dan is the oldest son, oldest of our children, and is therefore the third member of the Original 5 Cross B Group. He designed our Original Web Site uploaded in March 1998, and was its Web Master then, due to the fact primarily that he had the computer expertise to manage this job. Although he resides over 3000 miles away, Dan was still able to upgrade and maintain our Web Site until recently. We were very grateful that this was possible, and are thankful for his several years of service to us in this capacity.