Rachel Rebecca Graham Ross went to be with Jesus at the age of 104 on December 16, 2019, in Greensburg, Indiana. She passed away peacefully surrounded by her family. She was a resident of Decatur County for nearly 70 years with 61 of those years in Greensburg. She was a lifelong member of the Moravian Church in Hope.
Rachel was born November 29, 1915, in Hope to Clarence and Lela Schaefer Graham. Lela died five weeks after Rachel’s birth. Rachel was raised by her maternal grandparents. She had one older sister, Louise Graham Herron.
She was a 1933 graduate of Hope High School. She lived through the Great Depression, losing her life savings she had put away for college. Her first job was working in a canning factory peeling tomatoes. She was a newspaper reporter for the Columbus paper going door to door around the square in Hope asking shopkeepers for news.
When she was 26, she fell in love with Lewis Ross, whom she met in Hope. Lewis was drafted into the army before World War II. While he was stationed in New Jersey, ready to be deployed to Iceland, he asked his Captain for a 5-day pass to go back to Indiana to get married. Lewis and Rachel were married on April 21, 1942. The next day Lewis got back on the train to New Jersey to be deployed. During the war, Rachel worked on an assembly line making radios at Arvin’s in Columbus.
Their son, William, was born in 1947. In 1950, they moved to rural Decatur County to farm. In 1958, they relocated to Greensburg. Rachel worked for 21 years at the Decatur County Hospital in Medical Records before retiring. Rachel was a former Sunday School Teacher and was very active in the Young Peoples Meetings. She was an election volunteer for many years. Rachel was a past Matron of the Lois Chapter of Eastern Star, Associate Member of Kappa Kappa Sigma Phi in Hope, member of Farm Bureau, and 4-H Leader.
Rachel had fond memories of her grandchildren’s overnight stays and going to Christmas Eve services together every year. She always enjoyed the time spent together on Memorial Day and Ross Family gatherings every Thanksgiving. She enjoyed her many visits with family and friends.
She loved life. She loved people. She always found something to be thankful for and was full of joy.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years on February 10, 1994.
Survivors include her son William (Bill); daughter-in-law Dianna; three grandchildren, Kelli, Angie (Gray), and John; her nephew Archie Bill (Herron); many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, many sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, three half brothers, and her grandson-in-law William Gray.
Services will be conducted at the Moravian Church at 202 Main Street, Hope, Indiana 47246. The visitation will be from 2-4 on Sunday, December 22nd with the funeral service following at 4. Burial will be at the Moravian Church cemetery at 11 on Monday, December 23rd.
Rachel desired that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Perpetual Fund of the Moravian Church and Our Hospice of South Central Indiana. Online condolences can be made to the family at www.gilliland-howe.com.
