Andra Crossland

ANDRA ALLEN HARPER CROSSLAND

Andra Crossland passed away on January 1, 2026, having lived her nearly 91 years with love, determination and a creative spirit. She was a student of life, always learning and expanding her skills. She paid close attention to culture, politics and, most of all, to the family she loved.

Born on April 30, 1935, to Rodney and Edith Allen Harper in Paducah, Kentucky, the family moved to El Paso in 1947 where Andra would create lifelong roots. She graduated from El Paso High School and was accepted to Texas Western on an art scholarship. She soon married Joe Matthews and started a family – a daughter, Leslie, and a son, Craig. With two small children, she began her career as an entry-level statistical typist at El Paso Natural Gas and welcomed her youngest daughter Amanda a few years later.

Andra married Gary Crossland in 1972, a loving partnership that would last until the end of her life. She continued working at El Paso Natural Gas for a total of 32 years. While there, she took accounting classes at night, passing the CPA exam and graduating from UTEP with Honors. She ultimately became Executive Director of the El Paso Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs, working there until retirement.

Andra was often ahead of her time and defied any one label. She was a fastidious accountant and a true artist; a master sewist and a Miner superfan; a proud conservative and a yoga teacher. Her knitting was legendary, earning many awards and admirers over her decades in the El Paso Knitting Guild.

Andra was rarely just a member of a group. She was always a leader and a doer, lending her considerable brainpower to causes like Viva El Paso, the Woman's Auxiliary of The University of Texas at El Paso, and several community and political organizations she valued.

She will be remembered most as a caring wife, sister, mother, stepmother, aunt, grandmother and great grandmother. “Granny Andy” has legions of fans, each with a favorite knitted treasure and memories of her chocolate pie.

Andra is survived by her husband, Gary Crossland; sister, Cathy Brady (Pat); brother, Dr. Stephen Harper (Minnie); children, Craig Matthews (Hilda), Leslie Allen (Barry Peterson) and Amanda Crossland; seven grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her brother Russell Harper and granddaughter Christy Allen Lee.

In lieu of flowers, please consider honoring Andra’s memory with a donation to the Andra Crossland Memorial Scholarship Fund at UTEP or the El Paso Art Association: In Memory of Andra Crossland.