2007.02.05: February 5, 2007: Headlines: COS - Dominican Republic: Northwest Arkansas Times: Dominican Republic RPCV Ed Ross finds happiness in service
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2007.02.05: February 5, 2007: Headlines: COS - Dominican Republic: Northwest Arkansas Times: Dominican Republic RPCV Ed Ross finds happiness in service
Dominican Republic RPCV Ed Ross finds happiness in service
Then came his hitch in the Peace Corps and about 18 months teaching “ street kids” in the Dominican Republic how to garden, while they taught him Spanish. They started planting crops on rooftops in rubber tires and wooden frames and baskets — whatever would hold the crops — and eventually had huge hydroponic gardens. When the crops sold, the boys got the money, and hopefully, were on the way to self-sufficiency. One of Ed’s favorite memories in the Dominican Republic was gridding a world map on a building wall. “ We did it in sections. We’d actually draw the squares up on the wall, ” he said. “ All the kids, everybody participated. ‘ You go up there and draw these two blocks’ and so forth. ” Then they painted the blocks one by one. “ Oh, they loved that, ” he said.
Dominican Republic RPCV Ed Ross finds happiness in service
Ozark Profile : Learning from living: Ross finds happiness in service
BY MARSHA L. MELNICHAK Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Monday, February 5, 2007
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Ed Ross took to heart what his second-grade teacher, a Boston nun, put in large letters above the blackboard: Whatever you do, do with all of our might; things done by halves are never done right.
At 76, half a continent away with a lifetime of experience behind him, he still quotes it.
And he lives it.
Ross is a gentleman, a man who radiates wholesomeness, according to his friend Bob Bright.
“ He is an individual who wants to make a positive contribution to his fellow man, ” said Bright.
Ross is and has been many things: a Navy veteran of 23 years, an engineer who worked at a firm that built nuclear plants, a college graduate at 50, a concierge at a hotel / casino, a Peace Corps volunteer, a 35-year member of Alcoholics Anonymous, the director of a halfway house for alcoholics for 10 years, a translator, a hydroponics gardener, a certified paralegal, a real estate broker, a man who has known poverty and comfort, a man who realizes how blessed he is and wants to share the blessing. One way he does that is volunteering.
Helping others Twice a week, Ed and his wife of four years, Frances, are among the volunteers serving community meals to the homeless and impoverished at their church, Central United Methodist. “ I kind of tie into this. I know ‘ but for the grace of God, ’ I could be one of them, ” said Ed. He said he thinks most of the volunteers feel somewhat the same.
“ It’s a payback, sort of, gratitude that we could be there where these people are, ” he said. “ The other thing that keeps us coming back is their gratitude. ”
The Rosses said they see many of the same people week after week, but the couple understand it is difficult to get lives back together.
“ At least we’re helping them along, ” said Ed.
Ed and Frances also volunteer at Community Emergency Outreach, a multichurchsponsored program that provides food, clothing and help for utility bills.
“ That’s when it hits you, when you see the little babies, ” Ed said. “ You wonder, ‘ How in the world do they survive ?’”
He paused briefly and went on, “ We don’t judge these people. They’re there. I’m sure they don’t want to be there but they are, and we’ll do what we can to help them. ”
Ed also used to build houses with Habitat for Humanity. It took a fall from a ladder at home to stop him some months back — or at least slow him down.
“ I hope to get back to it, ” he said.
Then there’s Sunday School.
“ You won’t believe this. Here I am, a Boston, Yankee Catholic, and I am the president of the Sunday School class, ” the former Catholic altar boy said. “ I have fun when I go to church and Sunday School. When I came here, this church caught me right away. The spirit there, the people there. Genuine. Real. No baloney. This is what I like and I still like: real people. ” The couple take their turns serving family dinners as part of the “ Feed My Sheep” group at Wednesday Night Live at the church. They are also planning to go along as part of a youth mission trip to Mexico later this year. And they’re part of a group that serves meals to youth three or four times a semester.
More than a vacation Ed Ross, formerly of Boston, Reno and the world, came to Fayetteville by way of an Alaskan cruise and railway trip that led to a chance meeting with the former Frances Gibson, second- and thirdgrade teacher at Root and Asbell schools for 31 years. “ I said to her, ‘ You talk funny, ’” Ed said. “‘ She said, ‘ So do you. ’” So it began. Ed was with a group of friends; Frances was with her mom. And even though their life paths had been completely different, they felt comfortable with each other. They talked. They laughed. They talked some more. “ We just had fun, ” said Frances. “ We have a lot of fun; we do, we really do, ” said Ed. That was in September 2000. The next month, October 2000, was his first trip “ to the wilds of Arkansas. ” Two years and 27 — mostly monthly — trips later, he got off the plane to stay. Ed and Frances were married in November 2002. “ We just didn’t plan that at all, ” said Frances. “ I had lost two husbands, and Ed’s wife had passed away. Neither of us were looking, that’s for sure. ” Now, in 2007, they’re planning another Alaskan cruise, sometime after that mission trip to Mexico.
Childhood, careers and helping others Ed Ross was one of seven children. “ Nine people in three rooms. We didn’t mind the poverty because everybody was poor, ” he said. “ Sometimes I think back and I wonder how in the world my mother was able to do it, but we all got to school. ” His mother died young, at 42, leaving all seven children at home. His father worked several jobs at the same time. “ I think it would be nice for them to know that many of the things they taught me, I put to use, ” he said. “ They’re the reason. My parents are the reason. ” It was from his parents that Ed learned the basics, “ be polite, respect your elders, faith. ” And it was from them he first learned about helping others. “ He (Ross’s father ) always went out of his way to help somebody else, ” Ed recalled. “ We got that from him — and my mother — always helping somebody else. He was one of those guys who would give you the shirt off his back. ” At 17, Ed joined the navy. He rose through the ranks and was promoted 12 times in 23 years, retiring as a lieutenant commander. His first job after the navy was as an engineer in a firm that built nuclear plants. When nuclear plants became “ passé, ” he tried his hand at several occupations. Then, at age 45, he started college and graduated when he was 50. During the course of his life he found he wasn’t cutthroat enough to sell real estate, but he was strong enough and understanding enough to help other alcoholics reach for sobriety. He became director of a halfway house for alcoholics in Quincy, Mass., while he was still in college. He stayed for 10 years. “ Looking back, I probably should have got out of there sooner than I did. It kind of gets to you. But when you see a guy making something of himself, you know. He was down on the bottom and here he is now, ” he said, the space between his hands growing. He credits his own AA experience for giving him the ability to help at the halfway house. He was eight years into AA when he started his work at Quincy. “ The first three years I was in AA, I don’t think I missed a meeting, ” he said. “ I was scared to miss one. Every night. Having been there myself, I knew where these guys are coming from. ” He also credits his AA experience with his helping attitude. “ In AA, the minute you start feeling good, you spread it around, ” he said. Then came his hitch in the Peace Corps and about 18 months teaching “ street kids” in the Dominican Republic how to garden, while they taught him Spanish. They started planting crops on rooftops in rubber tires and wooden frames and baskets — whatever would hold the crops — and eventually had huge hydroponic gardens. When the crops sold, the boys got the money, and hopefully, were on the way to self-sufficiency. One of Ed’s favorite memories in the Dominican Republic was gridding a world map on a building wall. “ We did it in sections. We’d actually draw the squares up on the wall, ” he said. “ All the kids, everybody participated. ‘ You go up there and draw these two blocks’ and so forth. ” Then they painted the blocks one by one. “ Oh, they loved that, ” he said.
The last thing he would do is show them their country on the world map they had created. “ Their country is so small. They had no conception of the world — none, ” he said. None, that is, until they met Ed Ross, who broadened their world beyond their borders in more ways than one. “ These are things I will never forget, ” he said. “ He is sensitive to the needs of people, ” observed Bright of Ed Ross. “ Here is a gentleman that has been in a lot of different situations, and he has the past experience to draw on in helping others. ” “ He’s just a good friend, very honest and sincere, very cheerful — an all-around person, ” said Bob Stark, another friend. Ross describes himself as an average person who enjoys life, enjoys family and enjoys people. “ I’m not a materialistic person. I’m a very grateful person. God has been good to me, and I have no complaints, ” he said. “ This is my small way of paying some of it back by helping some other people. ”
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Headlines: February, 2007; Peace Corps Dominican Republic; Directory of Dominican Republic RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Dominican Republic RPCVs
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Story Source: Northwest Arkansas Times
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