Obit: James Ross (Open Thread)
The following appeared in the OVN. Feel free to leave stories, poems, memories of James in the comments. Also check out Jason Womack's post "Go outside, a little voice said" below.
James Albert Ross
Born in Penang, Malaysia on November 20, 1952, James Ross was the son of a veterinarian for the British Foreign Office and lived in Asia and Africa as a young boy. He was educated in England, and after university, worked as a customs officer in the New Hebrides, now Vanuatu. He bicycled through East and Central Africa before settling in South Africa.
James came to the U.S. in the late 1970s, eventually moving to Santa Cruz, California. Friends introduced him to Ojai in the early 1980s, and he moved here in 1985. While he would leave the area for extended periods, he always came back to Ojai and this became his permanent home.
James worked as an actor, waiter, masseuse, restauranteur and piemaker, bike tour guide, property manager, carpenter, and licensed electrician. He acted in some of the early Ojai Shakespeare Festival productions, worked with the Forest Service trail crews, and donated his time and services to many community groups. He was a passionate environmentalist, a follower of world politics and a master chess player.
An avid outdoorsman and adventurer, he backpacked and mountain biked extensively in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties and the Sierra Nevada. James died on January 6, 2007 of a heart attack during a bike ride on Ojai's Gridley Trail.
James is survived by his sisters, Dr. Judy Ross and Jane Ross, nephew Andrew Meiring, niece Isabella Meiring and son Martin Ernst of South Africa, and brother John Ross, daughter Amelia Gerstad and niece Shevaunne Ross of England, as well as his large extended family here in Ojai and his beloved dog , Fiona. James shall be missed and mourned by all who knew him.
In lieu of donations, the family asks that donations be sent to the Sudan Programme of the International Committee of the Red Cross (www.icrc.org).
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Comments (2)
Gives us pause ... peace, quiet, perspective ... the experience of love and respect ... of ourselves and all our loved ones.
Of a valley, a home, a childhood and beloved mother, father, sister, brother.
A return, change of life, to true values ... the only things that make our lives worth living. The chapparal forests, the bicycling days where friendship and family is nurtured and sustained.
The walking, the tree-planting, the veggie-garden planting.
And those wondrous memories of the events that changed us before ... cultural enlightenment, ecstasy, of a Chumash bear dance or Japanese Noh theatre performance.
We have grown ...
and our growth is returning.
Because we loved, and choose to love again ...
Comment #1 Posted by: Millennium Twain | January 17, 2007 10:53 AM
Would see James always around Ojai on bicycle- he
represented preservation
and conservation of Ojai,
and was a holder of lamp
and light for real value
of this valley. Died as he
lived, seems to me- pilgrim
of hugher ground seeking
further elevation. PL
Comment #2 Posted by: pete lafollette | January 18, 2007 10:22 AM