Gary Wayne and Gloria Sue Cross of Brownstown will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with an open house from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Brownstown Christian Church fellowship hall given by their children.

Formal invitations have been sent, but all family, friends, former classmates and co-workers are invited to attend. The couple request no gifts.

Gary and the former Gloria Wayt were married May 31, 1969, at Nashville Christian Church. Mike Bell and Paul Jasper officiated.

Gary and Gloria are carrying on a family tradition of celebrating more than 50 years of marriage that began with his grandparents, Lemual Martin “Lemma” and Dora Belle Phillips Cross, who were married for 52 years, and Samuel Jefferson and Sallie Waskom Brewer, who were married for 51 years.

His parents, Russell Louis and Mildred Zella Brewer Cross, celebrated more than 62 years of marriage; his sister, Carolyn Sue Cross Greathouse, and her husband, Glen Greathouse, celebrated 51 years of marriage; and his oldest sister, Dorothy Lou Cross Rees, and her husband, Harold Louis Rees of Indianapolis, are celebrating 60 years of marriage and also will be honored at this event.

They are the parents of three children, Missy (Jeff) Kelley of Scottsburg, Staci (Mike) Tharp of Brownstown and Jeremy (Michelle) Cross of Covington, Georgia. They have seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Gary is retired from Cummins after 43 years and farmed the majority of his life.

Gloria is retired from Schneck Medical Center, where she worked as a registered nurse in obstetrics, where her favorite job was taking care of the babies.