Aurora’s Greg Zanis Dies At 69 After Battle With Cancer

AURORA, IL — Aurora hometown hero Greg Zanis died Monday morning after a short battle with terminal bladder cancer. He was 69. Zanis’ death comes just three days after hundreds from around the area paid a touching tribute to him during a drive-by visitation at his home.

For nearly a quarter-century, Zanis traveled around the country to honor the victims of violent crimes by setting up crosses and delivering them to victims’ families. Before retiring from his Crosses for Losses ministry in December, Zanis made about 27,000 crosses to memorialize victims.

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Zanis, a retired carpenter, drove nearly 2,000 miles to Las Vegas in October 2017 to set up crosses for the 58 victims of a mass shooting at a country music festival. He also memorialized victims of the Columbine and Sandy Hook school shootings and the massacre at an Orlando nightclub.

Last February, he honored Russell Beyer, Clayton Parks, Vicente Juarez, Trevor Wehner and Josh Pinkard, the five people killed by a gunman at Henry Pratt Manufacturing in Aurora. Zanis made his first cross in 1996 after his father-in-law was found murdered, according to the ministry's website.

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Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin called Zanis “a giant among men” who heeded the Bible’s call to “pick up your cross and follow me.”

“He was a man of action who simply wanted to honor the lives of others,” Irvin said. “In return, his life was one of honor and one that was celebrated throughout our nation and world”

“He picked up the crosses he made and followed his mission in the noblest of ways,” Irvin continued. “His legacy shall forever be remembered in his hometown of Aurora and around the globe."