Wilford H. (Will) Ross, Jr. passed away on Thursday, January 18, 2018, after a brief illness.
He was 91 years old. Will was born November 27, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of the late Wilford H. Ross, Sr. and the late Alice (Bellar) Ross. He was the fourth of seven children. His brother Fred and sister Adele predeceased him.
In 1944, after graduating from high school one year early, 17-year-old Will enlisted in the US Navy. He served during the last year of World War II in the Pacific on an aircraft carrier where he participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima. After his discharge he attended college at Loyola University of Chicago, and the University of Chicago, where he obtained degrees in Chemistry.
Early in life Will decided that he would live life exactly the way he wanted. In the 1950s he met someone with whom he wanted to share his adventures. On October 31, 1953, he married the love of his life, Mary Jean Noonan, who survives him after 64 years of marriage. Their life together was occasionally tumultuous, but never lacking in love or adventure. They have four children: Judge Wilford Ross and wife, Joanne of Calabasas, CA; Dr. Jeri Bills and husband, Chris of Cary, NC; Charlotte Herring, LTC, USA (Ret) and husband, John Mahoney, Col, USMCR (Ret) of Springfield, VA; and Nancy Kattenfeld and husband, Heinz of High Point, NC.
Will wore several hats during the decades he spent in business, starting as a brilliant research chemist who held at least one major patent. He later became a senior manager for several international chemical companies and founded his own veterinary pharmaceutical company, which he and Mary Jean ran for many years. Retiring from business in the late 1980s he started a second career as a college professor in Chemistry, a subject that was always close to his heart. He retired to Richmond Hill, GA, where his days became even fuller. In his own words, "I am interested in a lot of things."
Will Ross was an inveterate reader, often reading two or more books at the same time, along with countless magazines. He was an expert in classical music, computers, celestial navigation, and chess. He was a scholar of the Civil War, physics, all areas of mathematics, as well as conversant in five languages. He collected stamps, was a gifted artist—mostly oil and watercolor paintings—a Chapman award-winning teacher for the US Power Squadron, and a long-time member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Navy League. He was involved at senior levels in national Scouting for decades.
Will was a Master Mason for over 25 years and was awarded the Order of the Purple Cross, one of York Rites highest honors. He actively enjoyed all aspects of Masonry, in which he studied and wrote. All of this merely touches the surface of his enthusiasms. He was a gentleman of the old school, a proud and patriotic American veteran, a forthright man of honor and of his word. Beloved brother to Geri Kolb, Valerie Catenacci, Lou Ross, and the Reverend Christopher (Eugene) Ross. Will loved being a grandfather to Brady and Carson Bills; Katie Herring; Henry, Louis and Adele Kattenfeld; and Michael, Kyle and James Mahoney. Everyone he met was enriched by the experience, and the world is a lesser place without him in it.

Masonic Funeral Rites were held at the Richmond Hill Funeral Home at 11:00 a.m., April 7, 2018. Inurnment will be at Arlington National Cemetery on July 31, 2018 at 3:00 p.m.  Donations in memory of Will can be made to the Alzheimer's Association.

Under the wide and starry sky,

Dig my grave and let me lie.

Gladly did I live and gladly die,

And I lay me down with a will.

Here be the words you engrave for me,

Here he lies where he wanted to be.

Home is the Sailor, home from the sea.

And the Hunter,

Home from the hill.