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Obituary
Ross died on September 2, 2024. He was born July 26, 1934, in Payson, Utah, and lived in Pioche, Nevada, from 1936-41. Ross was seven when his father died, and the family moved back to Payson, where he graduated from high school. “In 1950, I was picking tomatoes when a fellow worker said he had to start football practice at Payson H.S. I thought I’d rather play football than pick tomatoes, so I told the coach I wanted to play football. Since I was relatively small, the coach grimaced and told me to find some gear. In my junior year, I was the only junior to play the entire game on the varsity team. I was team captain in my senior year and received state recognition in the Salt Lake newspapers. I was also selected to play in the Shriner’s All-Star game at the Univ. of Utah stadium in Salt Lake City. “I was drafted into the Army in 1955 after attending Snow College, Webber College, and BYU for a few semesters. After the Army, I graduated from Utah State University with a degree in Mathematics. “After being drafted in 1955, I was selected as the best trainee in basic training. The best two weeks I had in the Army were spent in the field hospital in the backwoods of Louisiana after a brawl in a Cagin Bar. “When I was 16 years old, I lied about my age and worked for the USFS for a season. After graduating from Utah State in 1960, I was selected to teach Math at Logan Jr. H.S. in Logan, Utah. It was a tremendous experience but way too stressful for me. So, when I reported to the smokejumpers in 1961, they offered me a full-time position, which I accepted.” Ross jumped 1958-63. “In 1963, I was transferred to the Region-1 office, and in 1965, I transferred to the R-4 office in Ogden. In 1969, I was selected to go to Washington, DC, to coordinate contractors in developing a National USFS payment system. In 1970 I transferred to Ft. Collins, Colorado, to be a liaison between the USFS and the USDA center in Ft. Collins. In 1979, I was selected as a computer group leader at the Intermountain Research Center and retired in 1988.
Identifier
Parry_D-Ross_Missoula_1958
Publication Date
September 2024
Keywords
Smokejumping; Smokejumpers -- United States; National Smokejumper Association; Wildfire fighters; Obituaries
Disciplines
Forest Management
Recommended Citation
National Smokejumper Association, "Smokejumper Obituary: Parry, D. Ross (Missoula 1958)" (2024). Smokejumper Obituaries. 1702.
https://dc.ewu.edu/smokejumper_bios/1702
