Man who brought crosses to Strip after Las Vegas shooting has cancer
After the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting, he brought white crosses to the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign on the Strip to honor the victims.
He toted thousands of handmade crosses to dozens of communities across the country after mass shootings.
On Friday, Greg Zanis, of Aurora, Illinois, revealed that he was living under hospice care with terminal bladder cancer.
The Chicago Tribune reported after a Friday interview with Zanis and his wife that he is not doing well since he was diagnosed in March.
His wife told the newspaper his cancer has spread quickly. Zanis said in the interview he was “doing terrible.”
Zanis brought the 58 crosses in remembrance of those who died to Las Vegas two years in a row following the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting. He was given a “Key to the Las Vegas Strip.” Some of the crosses are forever preserved at the Clark County Museum.
He placed crosses after school shootings at Parkland, Sandy Hook and Columbine, among others.
“After Orlando, it never stopped,” Zanis was quoted as saying.
“The country had me on the road for a while every week. I have driven 850,000 miles to put up crosses. I slept in my truck and never had the money to cover what I was doing.”
Last year, Zanis announced his retirement from the “Crosses for Losses” ministry where he makes the crosses.
Zanis worked for the ministry for more than 20 years. He told one news outlet at the time of his retirement that the ministry took personal and financial tolls on him.
Zanis could not be reached for comment Saturday.
In an apparent show of gratitude, people in Aurora will hold a visitation event for Zanis on May 1.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, the event will be a “drive-by visitation” due to social distancing recommendations amid the coronavirus.
Contact Dalton LaFerney at dlaferney@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0288. Follow @daltonlaferney on Twitter.
