Alan Henry Cross and Phyllis Harvey grew up together in Prince Rupert in the 1920s and 1930s, attended King Edward High School, and were married in 1936 in Vancouver.
Alan's father, Herbert T. Cross worked as an appraiser for Dom Customs. The family home was located at 223 4th Avenue West. Herbert and his wife had eight children: Joan (1911), Alan (1912), Walter (1914), Joseph (1917), Bertie, Lillian, Molly, Fran (1908). The Cross family had a cabin at Salt Lakes, Joan and Fran lived in the house until 1978. By the mid 1930s Alan was working as an accountant for B.C. Packers. He worked at Claxton, Sunnyside, and Imperial Cannery in Steveston. He also volunteered as a fireman and died of smoke inhalation from a fire in 1952 at age 40.
Phyllis Harvey's mother was Catherine McDougall Harvey (Andrews). Her first husband was an orchestra conductor at the Westholme Theatre; she worked as a seamstress. They had three daughters: Myra (Ferguson), Catherine (nurse), and Phyllis. The 1923 phone book lists the Harveys living at 542 8th Avenue West. Eventually their mother remarried (Hoss) and moved to Portland, Oregon and had two more daughters - Peggy and Mary. When Phyllis graduated from high school in 1928 she moved to Oregon to live with her mother but returned in 1929 to work for Sid C. Thomson in the wholesale fruit and vegetable business.
Alan and Phyllis moved to Richmond after they were married. They had three sons: Tom (Vancouver), Don (Prince Rupert), and Bill (Kelowna). Don moved up to the north coast in the 1960s to work at Sunnyside Cannery. Phyllis died in 2000.