Calvin Earl Ross
December 16, 2008
Ross, Calvin Earl, 85, retired 50-year employee of Blanchat Machine, passed away Tuesday, December 16, 2008. Memorial service, 1:00 P.M., Saturday, December 20, Covenant Presbyterian Church. Preceded in death by son, Roger. Survivors: wife of 64 years, Arlene; son, Calvin Kent (Ann) Ross of Arvada, CO; daughter-in-law, Debbie Ross of Westchester, OH; brothers, Don (Lenora) Ross of Hutchinson, Jerry (Janice) Ross of Mayfield; sisters, Evalyn Southwick of Wichita, Judy (Earl) Arnold of Johnson; 2 grandchildren; 2 great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, memorial established with Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1750 N. Tyler Rd., Wichita, KS 67212. Downing Lahey Mortuary West.
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I first met Calvin 24 years ago when I started dating his niece. Since that time I have watched Calvin make a priority of attending family gatherings such as July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Calvin added the ‘fun’ to the holiday. I remember many Thanksgivings when after the meal Calvin would want to drive to the river place and then on to visit cemeteries. He would tell of relations buried and point out the wagon tracks of the Chisholm trail every visit. Calvin wasn’t much for following directions, like the ones on the roman candle fireworks which said clearly ‘Do not hold in hand’. Of course holding the roman candle in his hand was not enough, he also had to aim the bursts at the light on the power pole year after year. Calvin was very generous. Every time he came down to the farm he brought his youngest brother a gift. It might be a motor, a manual or some part he said was extra. I knew Calvin served his country at the Battle of the Bulge. Being very interested in history I often tried to get Calvin to share stories of his experience. For many years he would look deep in thought and then change the subject. In the last 5 years or so he started sharing a few stories. I didn’t understand at the time why he always asked me why I drove a Japanese car. He thought I ought to drive American cars like him. I think I understand now that once you define your enemy as the guy looking down his gun barrel at you it’s hard to ever change that impression. Calvin was a walking library. If he thought you knew something he didn’t he’d ask question after question storing away valuable information. He also knew everything about everything and if asked a question he would share and assist with great detail. I was very impressed when he brought his youngest brother his invention for cracking nuts. It was a compressed air powered steel nut cracker with an industrial air valve. The thing looked like something straight off of Star Trek. I was extremely impressed and shared my interest with Calvin. He made a typical elderly person promise of ‘I’ll make you one sometime’. Having been burnt many times with similar promises from others I didn’t put a lot of stake in his comment. 6 months went by between visits and once again I saw Calvin. I said nothing of his ‘promise’ and nothing appeared. Again another 6 months went by and we met again and then in a real casual mater-of-fact way as he got out of the car he thrust into my hands a compressed air powered steel nut cracker with industrial air valve and his only comment was ‘here’ as he walked past me inside. I was amazed at not only Calvin remembering his ‘promise’ but then taking the time to fulfill his promise a year later. Calvin was a man of his word. I would ask what he had been up to and almost every time he would share something he had done for his neighbor. Calvin lived the words of Jesus … ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ but applied it as ‘love your neighbor more than yourself’. Calvin’s body grew old but his mind and humor remained young. What I remember most about Calvin was his laugh. He loved to tell stories and many times would end up laughing at his own stories about someone. He would laugh so hard he would raise his arms and then rub his eyes to remove his excess tears. His laugh will forever echo in my thoughts of Calvin. Randy Yates (Nephew-in-law)
Calvin was my mon and dad’s best friend from high school. My first memories of him were in the early 50’s, when I was a few year’s old. Arlene, Calvin, and they would get together to play cards, leaving me, Kent, and Roger to entertain ourselves. As a teenager, I can remember being invited into his basement workshop to see some of his inventions. The most memorable one was a .38 caliber pistol, bored out to accept a .410 shotgun shell, which he called his ‘rat gun’. He shot it at a sheet of plywood about six feet away, and it made a pattern about two feet across. My ears are still ringing. When I graduated from high school with top grades, I quickly became discouraged when Beech and Cessna did not immediately respond to my application for summer employment before college. I visited Calvin at Blanchat’s, and was at work in the ‘burr shack’ the next evening. That summer of arduous machine shop work was all I needed to keep up my motivation through four years of college. During college, my 1962 Corvair broke down on a holiday trip back to Wichita. After a couple of months, my dad told me to come back home and pick it up. He and Calvin had worked every evening after work for a full month overhauling the engine. I became a Navy officer, and was stationed in Honolulu. Calvin and Arlene visited us twice. We still have the picture of him clowning around in Paradise Park, where he posed grimacing with his hand being bitten in the tiki’s mouth. I’ll always remember visiting him and Arlene, llistening to his stories, with all those grandfather clocks ticking away. Calvin, we’ll always miss you.
We will miss you Calvin! You were always there to help with projects at church for the kids, and always available to fix a leaky faucet with no complaints. You will always be in our hearts and we will miss seeing you in your favorite spot at wednesday night dinners.
Arlene, I’m so sorry for your loss. I will always remember Calvin as the guy who could fix anything! He will be missed.
Calvin, what a wonderful human being, a great man. He was like a dad in many ways. Never impatient, never angry, always willing to listen, to help. It very bittersweet to experience the loss of this man, I know that he is home with Jesus, and that is precious, but he is gone from our presence, and that is bitter. He was an exceptional human being,an example of what we should all strive to be. I count my life very blessed to have known him as a friend and neighbor.