Richard W. Ross

Brewster – Mr. Richard W. ‘Dick’ Ross, of Brewster, formerly of Sudbury and Waltham, died Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at Cape Cod Hospital. He was 84.

Dick was born in Lynn on March 7, 1926, a son of the late William H. and Della E. (Peavey) Ross. He was raised in Waltham where the family had been longtime residents of Myrtle Street. With many of his classmates at Waltham High he joined the service during his senior year, enlisting in the United States Marine Corps in March, 1944.

After training at Parris Island, South Carolina he was assigned to the fleet with the newly formed 6th Marine Division. Dick was sent to the Pacific and spent time in training at Guadalcanal, the first island taken during the Pacific war in 1942. On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, he found himself inside a landing craft as part of the first wave of troops ashore at Okinawa, the epic and final battle of the struggle against Imperial Japan. After forty-seven days on the island he was gravely wounded in the leg and abdomen by enemy fire during the battle for ‘Sugarloaf Hill’, earning him a Purple Heart and a trip home to the naval hospital in San Diego where he spent months in recovery.

Before the war he had been trained as a machinist at the W.H. Nichols Company in Waltham. After his discharge he returned to his trade, this time for the Fab-Braze Corporation in Waltham and eventually became vice-president and general manager of the company. He retired after a thirty-seven year career with Fab-Braze.

The best part of his life however came on a blind date in 1946 where he met his future bride, Ruth MacFaun, a nurse from Brockton. The couple were married in 1949 in Brockton and settled in Waltham. A year later they bought land in Sudbury where the two of them, with the help of family and friends, built their home. They lived in the town for fifty years before moving permanently to Brewster on the Cape in 1990 where they were longtime members of Brewster Baptist Church on Route 6A.

Dick became a Mason in 1952, joining the Monitor Lodge, which later merged with two other groups forming Waltham’s Triad Lodge, A.F. & A.M. For years he and Ruth attended the 6th Marine Division Reunions held in locations all across the country. Dick also enjoyed golf and had been a longtime member of Captain’s Golf Course in Brewster. He had a natural talent for painting and drawing and loved the outdoors. His closest affections however were reserved for his family; the wife he adored and their five children. When he and Ruth were blessed with fourteen grandchildren they considered their lives complete.

Dick leave his wife of 61 years, Ruth E. (MacFaun) Ross; his children, David Ross and his wife, Angela, of Clinton, Connecticut, Sue Rameaka and her husband, Frank, of Plymouth, Don Ross and his wife, Kathy, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, Doug Ross and his wife, Lorain, of Holden and Steven Ross and his wife, Cathy, of Douglas; 14 grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

He was also a brother of the late George Ross, Mildred Mason, Elizabeth Bonica, William and Bernard Ross.

Family and friends will honor and remember Dick’s life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Monday, January 17th, from 4 to 8 p.m. and again at 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning when his funeral service will be held. Burial will follow in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 22nd, in Brewster Baptist Church, 1848 Main Street (Rte. 6A), Brewster.

Memorial donations may be made to Brewster Baptist Church, 1848 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631-1827.