CELEBRITIES OF THE MONTH

DURING THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS OUR WEB-SITE

HAS TRIED TO RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR CLUB AS WELL AS TO HUNTINGTON LAKES. SO FAR OUR

BIOS HAVE BEEN LIMITED TO MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.

We will now begin a new series and focus hopefully,

on each and every member of our club.

Norman Ross was born 86 years ago in Long Branch, NJ.  When he was 9 years old, his father—who had been in Aero Squadron 27 in WWI succumbed at the age of 33 to diseases occasioned by the war.  Norman then moved with his mother and sister to the Bronx, NY

After he graduated HS in June 1941 he joined the Navy in Nov. 1942.  He attended Great Lakes boot camp in Chicago and then Aviation Radio and Aerial Gunnery schools until assigned to a PB4Y (Liberator) Squadron VB110 attached to Fleet Air Wing 7 out of Dunkeswell, England.  There he flew over 45 combat missions until June 1945.   He was then assigned to a PB4Y2 (Privateer) squadron in Whidby Island, Seattle, where he continued operational missions in the Pacific until the end of the war in Japan.   He was discharged in Nov. 1945, having flown 60 missions in the Atlantic, the Pacific, the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Bay of Biscay.  For his service he has been awarded ten Air Medals and two DFCs--Distinguished Flying Crosses.

Following the war, Norman spent six months in the Bronx Kingsbridge VA Medical Center with what was then known as “battle fatigue".  Upon his discharge Norman attended Columbia University where he earned a PhD in English Literature.He was married in 1947 while going to school, and he had four children.  After teaching a year at Columbia, he began teaching high school in 1952 and retired 30 years later.  He served as Chairman of the English Department at North Shore HS on Long Island, and was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at CW Post College in Greenvale, NY.   While a high school teacher, he was also Varsity Soccer and Track Coach for 25 years, where he led both teams to several championships.

Divorced in 1978, Dr. Ross retired to Florida in 1982 and married Rhoda a year later.  He led a fairly peaceful life in Delray Beach until 1988, when his Marine son-in-law Col. Rich Higgins was captured and murdered by terrorists in Lebanon while he was serving as Commander of the UN Peacekeeping forces there.  Since then, Norman has seen the commissioning of the USS Higgins, a guided missile destroyer named for his son-in-law.

His eldest daughter, a 20-year veteran of the Marine Corps, retired as a Lieutenant Colonel and also served as an Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor, as Executive Director of the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs, and as an Undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.   His eldest son served his country for 20 years in the Central Intelligence Agency.  His youngest daughter is an award-winning dog groomer and his youngest son, a photographer and a top Sales Associate for Harley-Davidson.

While enjoying retirement, including the six grandchildren he has jointly with his wife, Rhoda, Dr. Ross has performed frequently in his condo community’s Theater of the Performing Arts, with starring roles in various shows including HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, Music Man, Show Boat, Fiddler on the Roof, The Pirates of Penzance, and My Fair Lady.   Dr. Ross ran two marathons at the age of 58 and while in Florida became a 7 handicap golfer. 

Norman no longer is able to play golf, but on his computer has written and published several books.  His first was his autobiography entitled Memoirs of a Tail Gunner. Following that he has published six volumes of the journal he writes in his blog called Home of the Red Baron.  His most recent publication is titled Fires in the Heart. Dr. Ross has also written and published two books of poetry one of which is titled Addenda and the other Shadows in the Sunset. Dr. Ross continues to enjoy meetings of the computer club.

NORMAN ROSS - REVISITED