Phyllis Jean Vray of Salem, MA died on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 following a stroke at the age of 73.

Born on August 8, 1948 in Lynn, she was the daughter of the late Harold B. and Mildred B. (Gosse) Vray. She was the wife of David L. Cross, to whom she was married for 31 years. Phyllis grew up in Swampscott, where she attended the Clarke Elementary School and graduated from Swampscott High School in 1966. She attended secretarial school at Bryant & Stratton and worked as a secretary and executive assistant for many years.

In 2004, she started her own business where she was able to combine her financial and business skills with her love of sewing, quilting, and knitting. She was the owner of Sew Creative in Beverly for 15 years as well as Creative Yarns for five years, where she taught many people how to sew and knit. The motto of her store was "we're a fun place to shop where customers are friends."  After she retired, she continued to work part time as a tax preparer for H&R Block.

Phyllis had a lifelong love of fiber arts. She learned to knit from her grandmother at the age of five and was an avid knitter and sewist. She learned quilting as an adult; she was a woman of many talents and also did some weaving, crocheting, cross stitch, and other needlework. At the start of the pandemic, she sewed masks and gowns for local hospitals. She enjoyed travel and in 2019 took a family trip to Newfoundland with her husband and daughter and was able to see where her grandparents were from. She was proud to have been "screeched in" and become an honorary Newfoundlander. Phyllis was also a Red Sox fan and loved animals, especially her cats, Pearl and Taylor.

She is survived by her husband, David L. Cross of Salem; her daughter Jean E. Riedlinger and son-in-law Anthony T. Nigrelli of Washington, DC; caring cousins Caryl and Vinny Burridge of Ipswich and Karen and Mike Jerz of New Hampshire; her best friend of 70 years, Grace Worcester of Vermont; and many more cousins and friends. She was predeceased by her parents; grandparents Robert and Bertha (Parsons) Gosse and Charles and Mabel (Taylor) Vray; her former husband Albert C. Riedlinger, and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Visiting hours will be at the Murphy Funeral Home, 85 Federal Street in Salem, on Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 10:00 AM with a service immediately following at 12:00 PM. Burial in Swampscott Cemetery will follow. All of those in attendance of the services are required to wear masks indoors at all times. The family asks that any charitable donations in Phyllis's memory be made to one of the following: Shriners Hospitals for Children (Attn: Processing Center, PO Box 947765, Atlanta, GA 30394, https://lovetotherescue.org/); Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Center (Massachusetts General Hospital, Development Office, Attn: Elizabeth Barberio, 125 Nashua Street, Suite 540, Boston, MA 02114-1101, https://www.angiopathy.org/); Go Red For Women (American Heart Association, PO Box 840692, Dallas, TX 75284-0692, https://www.goredforwomen.org/en ). For more information or online guestbook, please visit www.MurphyFuneralHome.com or call 978-744-0497.