Raymond Omer ROSS

ROSS, JENKINS, KURTH, OSHAUGHNESSY, MCDANIEL, MILLER, SHEDA, STRAIN, THEIMANN, SIMPSON, ANDERSEN, DICKEY

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/5/2007 at 10:23:24

BYRON, MN -- The funeral for Raymond O. "Ray" Ross will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the Byron United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Sharon Nelson officiating. Interment will be in Pine Island Cemetery, with the Sumner R. Hair American Legion Post 119 of Byron providing military honors. Mr. Ross, 91, of Byron, died Wednesday (Aug. 8, 2007) at Seasons Hospice in Rochester.

Raymond Omer Ross was born Sept. 15, 1915, in Wright County, Iowa. As a child, he moved with his family to Monticello, Minn., where they farmed. On Jan. 25, 1941, he married Ethel M. Jenkins in Heartland, Minn. He enlisted in the Army on June 11, 1942, and served as a sergeant in the 81st Infantry, stationed in the South Pacific during World War II. He was awarded the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one Bronze Star and was honorably discharged on Dec. 8, 1945. Following his service, Mr. Ross and his wife lived in Belmond, Iowa. They later relocated to Dows, Iowa, where he operated a garage with his brother, Omer. In 1958, the couple moved to rural Byron and farmed in Salem Township, Olmsted County. He worked at McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing in Dodge Center, and in the late 1970s began working at Ross Designers & Manufacturing (RDM) of Minnesota, owned by his son, Dennis. A member of the Sumner R. Hair American Legion Post 119 and Byron United Methodist Church, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, reading westerns, and mechanical design.

He is survived by his wife; five children, Lanny Ross of Sargeant, Barb (Jim) Kurth of Zumbrota, Dennis Ross (Karen O'Shaughnessy) of Wabasha, Kay Ross (Kent McDaniel) of Rochester and Lynette (Jim) Miller of Pine Island; a brother, Omer (Donna) of Mazeppa; and a sister, Thelma Andersen of Austin. Other survivors include 10 grandchildren, Julia Dickey, Jennifer Kurth, Wil Kurth, Scott Miller, Matt Ross, Steve Ross, Karla Sheda, Cheryl Simpson, Collin Strain and Amy Thiemann; 18 great grandchildren; and a sister-in-law, Opal Ross of Sauk Centre, Minn. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Richard and Freeman. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at Mahn Family Funeral Home-Rochester Chapel, and an hour before the service Monday at the church.

Daily Journal, Rochester, MN
August 11, 2007