Hugh C. Ross

ROSS, Hugh Craig of Largo, Florida, died on October 2, 2013, at the age of 83 after facing long-term illness with grace and dignity. He was born on November 1, 1929 in Battle Creek, Michigan, the second son of Philip Ross and Marion Fitzsimmons Ross. His one brother, also named Philip, is now deceased. Hugh braved the frigid weather in Houghton, Michigan, to earn an Electrical Engineering degree from Michigan Technological University in 1951. On November 10th of that same year he married Helen Marie Earl, the love of his life. He began his career working three years for the Navy Bureau of Ships in Washington, D.C., and subsequently served as a Second Lieutenant for the United States Air Force during the Korean War in 1953. After the war, he joined the aerospace division of Honeywell Corporation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hugh was transferred in April of 1957 to the new Honeywell plant in Clearwater, Florida, where he worked as a systems engineer. During Hugh’s distinguished tenure at Honeywell, he was named a company fellow, received two technical awards, and earned a United States patent for his design of a stabilization control circuit for inertial navigation. Outside of work, through collaboration with Dr. William Tench, he applied his knowledge of statistics to devise a nomogram to regulate medication dosage for anticoagulant therapy, a work which was published in an article in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Hugh took early retirement in 1988, enjoying his latter years with his family and friends in Florida and at his boyhood summer home at Gull Lake in Michigan.

Family and friends remember Hugh as a man of utmost integrity, kindness, dependability, and understated wit. He tackled challenging problems with logic and persistence, inevitably finding unique and effective solutions. He served for many years on the school board at Clearwater Central Catholic High School, helping the school achieve financial stability. In his spare time, he enjoyed tennis, gardening, sailing, and “puttering around fixing things.” Along with the loving caregivers at Arden Courts Seminole, Hugh was surrounded by his family as he passed into eternal life. Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Helen Marie Earl Ross; his seven children: Alan Ross, Robin Fisher (John), Cindy Maynard (John), Fr. Isaac Francis (Christopher) Ross, Hugh A. Ross (Amy), Mary Griffin (Judson), and Katie Howe (Phil); 14 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends from 2-4 & 6-8 pm Sunday at Moss-Feaster Funeral Home, Serenity Gardens Chapel. A funeral mass will be celebrated 10:30 Monday at St. Cecelia Catholic Church.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations in Hugh’s name be made either to Fr. Isaac’s religious order (The Family of Jesus Healer, PO Box 292607, Tampa, FL 33687, http://www.familiadejesusperu.org/) or the Suncoast Hospice Foundation (5771 Roosevelt Blvd, Clearwater, FL 33760, 727-523-2441) who cared so lovingly for Hugh in his last days.