Thomas "Tom" Francis Ross

Tom was born July 16, 1953 to Elizabeth and Chester Ross. He grew up in Hammond Indiana as the middle child with 2 older sisters (Ursula Ross and Rita Connelly) and 2 younger sisters (Cecelia Ross and Carol Zaczyk). Tom moved to Boulder Colorado in 1971 for college at CU Boulder where he majored in Environmental Biology, joined the TKE fraternity, made many lifelong friends, and met his future wife, Lois.

Tom immediately fell in love with the Rocky Mountains and spent his subsequent life exploring, hiking, backpacking, skiing, sailing, kayaking, adventuring, and sometimes even misadventuring in the great outdoors. Tom held many jobs over the years, most notably were working as a professional Chemist and later working at REI. At REI you could always spot Tom sporting a Hawaiian shirt and a smile, telling a corny "Dad" joke and helping other people get equipped for their outdoor adventures. On November 8th, 1980 he married Lois Jean Leidich. Together, they raised 2 daughters Julie and Teresa.

Tom was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2014 and fought with a "CAN-DO" attitude. After countless rounds of chemo, radiation, and surgeries he came back with gusto and returned to his favorite pastimes of bike riding (including the Santa Fe Century in 2016 and 2018), sailing, hiking, camping, traveling and general enjoyment of life and the outdoors. Throughout his battle with cancer he found ways to bring laughter and support to others, sometimes with a laughing monkey, silly jokes, or words of faith and encouragement. Tom was a religious man and devout Catholic. He also found peace through meditation.

Tom is survived by his beloved wife of 39 years, Lois, his two daughters Julie (Chris) Thielen and Teresa (Mark) Gleed and 4 grandchildren Tommy, Paul, Miles, and Ruby. He is also survived by 4 sisters, 8 brothers-in-law, 5 sisters-in-law, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A rosary service will be held at Christ on The Mountain at 10 am followed by a Memorial Mass at 11 am on September 1st, 2020. The Mass will be live streamed

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ogN789MZEbg

If you would like to make a donation in Tom's honor, please consider his favorite charity, Bikes For Kids, (https://www.bikesforkidsfoundation.org/ ) or the soup kitchen where he volunteered, The Sandwich Line of Saint Elizabeth of Hungery (http://stelizabethdenver.org/outreach/ )