Archives West Finding Aid

(Carmen) C. Louise Jarussi was born on October 26, 1919, in Columbus, Montana, to Louis and Carmen Jarussi. Her parents immigrated from Rivisondoli, Italy, in 1907. After finishing high school in Red Lodge, Montana, Jarussi attended the University of Montana where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and speech, with minors in music and French. On June 23, 1943, Jarussi married John Melvin Cross, whom she met during a speech tournament her senior year at UM. John Cross served in the European Theater during World War II, and when the war ended, the couple settled in Helena, Montana until 1952 when they relocated to Glendive. The couple had six children: Melvin, Gregory, Brian, Justin, Mark, and Catherine.

Cross was active in the American Association of University Women, and in local Democratic Party politics. In 1971 she ran for and was elected a delegate to the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention. Her interest in the Convention stemmed from her concerns related to land reclamation and the environmental impact of strip mining in eastern Montana. Cross served as chair of the Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee at the Convention—the only woman to chair an Article Committee. Due in large part to Cross’ efforts, Montana’s Bill of Rights contains a constitutionally protected right to a “clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.” It also provides for land reclamation and water rights. The article was challenged in 1991, but the Montana Supreme Court upheld it.

After the Convention, Cross ran for a seat on the Dawson County Commission, but lost. She remained active politically locally, serving as an election judge and working to establish the Frontier Gateway Museum to preserve eastern Montana history. She was the museum’s first curator.

An ardent environmentalist until she died, Cross was a member of organizations such as the Audubon Society, National Wildlife Foundation, and Northern Plains Resource Council. In 1997, she advocated for the protection of Montana’s largest state park, Makoshika State Park from oil development.

On March 21, 2014, two months before her death, Cross and four other Constitutional Convention delegates, Wade Dahood, Jean Bowman, Michael McKeon and Arlyne Reichert, went to court challenging Supreme Court justice candidate Lawrence VanDyke’s eligibility to run, arguing he was ineligible to run under the constitutional requirement that requires an attorney to be admitted to the practice of law in Montana for 5 years prior to election.

Louise Cross died on May 16, 2014. Her husband, John, preceded her in death on January 25, 1980.