Jerome Howard Ross

Mr. Ross was born on June 1, 1938 in New York City and is preceded in death by his parents, Benjamin Ross and Ruth Ruby Ross. He married his wife of 57 years, Pennie Sue Webre, on March 12, 1966 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is survived by her and their two daughters, Kristine LaMariana of Corrales, NM and Melinda (Morgan) Davis of Tijeras, NM; six grandchildren: Cristo, Bodhi, Judah and Val LaMariana; Madeline Prescott and Tobey Prescott, Jr. and a sister, Diane Glacer of Pompano Beach, Florida.

Mr. Ross received his BS and LLB degrees from the University of Florida and an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati. He served in the US Army Reserves Active Duty from 1964 -1969.

Jerry Loved sports and growing up, spent hours in the park, playing basketball with friends and riding his bike. His lifelong work ethic began at age 15 as a newspaper delivery boy, followed by jobs as a movie theatre usher, camp counselor, cabana boy and college fraternity house waiter.

Jerry Ross was a peacemaker. His career in Labor Relations spanned a period of 56 years and included private sector and federal government experiences beginning after he graduated law school from the University of Florida in 1963. At that time, he was hired by General Electric in their personnel and industrial relations division in Evendale, Ohio. He later joined the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, where for ten years, he mediated labor disputes and became Assistant Director of Mediation.

During his career as a Federal Mediator, Jerry loved nothing more than bringing the parties to agreement in a win-win manner. He particularly enjoyed contract negotiations. As a Federal Executive Employee sponsored by the FMCS, Mr. Ross was chosen for Federal Congressional Fellowship in 1970 which afforded him the opportunity to work in legislative branch of government for one year. During that period, he also taught labor relations at Georgetown University.

In 1977, Mr. Ross was named Chairman of the Prevailing Rate Advisory Committee which was responsible for setting the pay policy for over 500,000 U.S. federal blue-collar employees. He held this position until establishing his private arbitration practice in 1981. He and his wife worked together in his home office until he retired in 2019.

A member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and American Arbitration Association, during his 38 year career as an arbitrator, Mr. Ross arbitrated grievances for the coal, steel, postal service and airline industries as well as for Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Major League Baseball and the National Football League, the State Department’s Foreign Service Grievance Board and the General Accounting office’s grievance Board. His international negotiations included hearings between the Overseas Federation of Teachers and Department of Defense Schools; Minimum Wage contract negotiations for workers in American Samoa; arbitrations in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, as well as training labor ministry employees in collective bargaining in Cairo, Egypt. In 1987 he was named Appeals Committee Chairman for the International Monetary Fund, facilitating the Fund’s appeals procedure and job classification process.

Jerry and Pennie enjoyed traveling the world, often with friends, but mostly he loved “making every day special” at home with his wife. He was an avid runner for many years and also visited the gym on weekdays before his disease made it impossible.

Described by his friends and family as “gentle, kind, graceful, vibrant, peaceful and sweet” Jerry will be remembered for his “heart of gold” and the love he gave to so many, especially to his caregivers throughout the past two years of his illness. Jerry will be missed, but long-remembered by all.

Special thanks to ComForCare Home Care of Northern Fairfax for providing wonderful caregivers for Jerry’s daytime care, as well as to his night caregiver, Franklin Yamoah-Munah (Kingsley) and nurses from Pro-Medica Hospice.

A Memorial Service is planned for October 13th at 2 PM at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 1125 Saville Lane, Mclean, Virginia 22101. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org). Burial will be private.