William "Bill" B. Ross

Bill was born on October 5, 1935, in Chicago, IL, the son of Hyman and Miriam (Sapero) Ross. He was the older brother of Barbara (Ross) Greenberger, his beloved sister.

He grew up in Highland Park, IL and attended Highland Park High School followed by Purdue University where he earned a degree in chemical engineering.

After he graduated from Purdue, he attended the University of Michigan where he received a Master's in Nuclear Engineering. He then moved to Milwaukee and worked for Allis Chalmers as a nuclear engineer. He eventually returned to Chicago and accepted a position with Standard Oil (Amoco) and worked in Whiting, Indiana. He then pursued a degree in law at The University of Tulsa and became a patent attorney at Amoco.

In 1970, he met the love of his life, Deidre, through the Columbia Yacht Club. They both had a love of sailing and enjoyed many weekends sailing on Lake Michigan with their friends. Bill also loved aviation and was a private pilot where Deidre and Bill would fly his plane to exotic locations like the Bahamas and locales throughout the Midwest, including Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and Michigan.

The pair eventually tied the knot on September 3, 1972, and settled in Lincoln Park where they started a family. In 1974, they welcomed their first born, Robert, followed by Darcy in 1976. The family of four moved to Wilmette in 1978, where they lived in their home for many decades.

Bill became very active in the community as an officer of the Wilmette Jaycees and started the annual Santa fire truck drive through Wilmette with his best friend, Alan, which brought so much joy to the community. He was also active as a softball coach for Darcy and Boy Scout leader for Robert. He was involved with Robert’s Boy Scout Troop 9, including acting as a pancake flipper for their annual pancake breakfast for more than 30 years. As the kids got older, Bill became very active in the local theater scene, volunteering at the McKenzie School variety show and many productions at the Winnetka Community House theater group leading sound design.

Later in life, he retired from Amoco and continued working in computer science at Sunstone in Evanston and eventually started his own consultancy.

His greatest joys were spending time traveling with Deidre to many locations throughout the world such as China, South Africa, Amazon Rainforest, Australia/New Zealand, Europe, Asia and across the U.S. The light of his life were his grandchildren – Noah and Hannah who he spent time with discussing computer projects and watching them play sports. He was also the treasurer and president of the North Shore Senior Center Men’s Club (The Tuesday Club) and loved watching a good magic show.

Bill was beloved by so many people for his kindness and dashing looks. He maintained lifelong friendships with his fraternity brothers from Purdue and his Chavurah group. People loved and respected Bill for his wonderful ability to listen and support he gave to his family, friends and neighbors.

He is survived by his wife, Deidre, and their children Robert, Darcy (Joshua) Babcock and his grandchildren, Noah and Hannah Babcock; his sister Barbara (Merrill) Greenberger and his nieces, nephew and great-nieces and great-nephews.

Bill loved dogs so much, including his new puppy, Fido and his grand-dogs, Rizzo, Avery and Lance.

A funeral service will be held Wednesday, July 5, 10:00 AM at Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home, Wilmette followed by interment at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in Bill’s name to the American Diabetes Association, North Shore Senior Center (Northfield, IL), or the Sarah Siddons Society (Chicago, IL).

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.weinsteinfuneralhomes.com for the Ross family.